Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 6

Written Answers. - Crisis Pregnancy Agency.

Breeda Moynihan-Cronin

Question:

37 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress which has been made to date with regard to the establishment of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency; the number of staff recruited to date; when it is expected that the agency will begin to offer a service to the public; the nature and terms of that service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22915/02]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

I established the Crisis Pregnancy Agency on 2 October 2001 under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961. The task of the agency, as a planning and co-ordinating body rather than as a provider of services, is to draw up a national strategy to address crisis pregnancy and to oversee its implementation, in consultation with Government and other non-statutory agencies. However, as the agency was not fully operational until 2002, its first annual report will not be produced until early in 2003. It is envisaged that the annual report will cover the period October 2001 to December 2002.

The prevention of crisis pregnancy in the first instance is a primary task of the agency. Preventative issues concerning the education of young adults, as well as services appropriate to their needs and lifestyles, will be addressed. The agency will work to develop strategies to make women more aware of their options, should they have a crisis pregnancy, and to improve the supports and assistance available to women in this situation so that they will feel they have genuine alternatives to abortion. Women who have had an abortion, either recently or some time ago, have particular needs also and this is another area which the agency has been asked to address so that women are treated with compassion and understanding and that both their emotional and physical health needs are attended to.

The first priority of the agency was the recruitment of key staff. Initially, I appointed Ms Olive Braiden as chairperson on 3 October 2001. I am advised by the agency that a director and two senior managers, administration and programmes and communications, were recruited in June 2002. A research officer, as well as administrative staff, are also in place. A health promotion and education officer has also been recruited. Furthermore, the statutory instrument under which the agency was created provides for the establishment of a 20 person consultative committee which will have the function of providing expert advice for the board of the agency. Those organisations with an interest in the work of the agency will have a forum to present and share their views. The members of the committee have been appointed from various statutory and non-statutory organisations under the chair of Dr. Linda Hogan. It is expected that the first meeting of the committee will be convened shortly.

As regards the development of a strategy to address crisis pregnancy in Ireland, the agency advises that as a first step in this process submissions were invited from members of the public and approximately 250 have been received. They are currently being examined, coded and analysed. A wide-ranging consultation process is also taking place which will inform the development of a strategy to address crisis pregnancy in Ireland and it is expected that this process will run into 2003. In addition, it is hoped to incorporate an action plan for the coming years in the strategy. This will provide the agency with a framework to implement its strategy in a planned and structured manner.

In June of this year the agency invited funding proposals from key service providers. The merit of each proposal has been assessed and the agency has stated that up to €900,000 will be provided in 2002 to carry out innovative work in the areas of information provision and capacity building. This funding will have knock-on costs of €1.5 million for 2003. The main public information programme being developed by the agency in 2002 is Development of Information on Supports in Crisis Pregnancy. The agency expects to be in a position to begin the roll-out of this project from November 2002. The development of a research programme has also commenced. The agency has stated that the main priorities for this area include the development of an initial framework, an audit of existing research and an analysis of research gaps. The agency has advised that the following major developments also commenced in 2002: the commissioning of key research on crisis pregnancy counselling; the development of a communications framework and an audit of services provided nationally.

The establishment of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency is intended to play a major role in the development of co-ordinated, responsive and appropriate services. The Government hopes that over time it will be possible to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancies among women and ensure that women who find themselves in this situation will have available to them the widest possible range of assistance to help them deal with their situation.