'Young woman alive, but barely living' waiting three years for endometriosis diagnosis, Dáil told

An estimated one in 10 women in Ireland suffer with endometriosis, which can damage their organs, cause infertility, and leave them in such pain they cannot work or go to school. File photo: Alamy/PA

Endometriosis is a crisis in women's health, but it is taking up to nine years to receive a diagnosis, the Dáil has been told.

During Wednesday's Leaders' Questions, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald read a letter from an 18-year-old woman named Nikita who had written to her and has been waiting for three years for a surgery to see if she has the condition.