Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 July 2021
1750. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the checks that are in place to ensure public hospitals are adhering to the provisions of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; if all public hospitals are in compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35458/21]
View answer1751. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that a public hospital group (details supplied) is adhering to the provisions of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; if all public hospitals in the group are in compliance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35459/21]
View answer1752. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of the services available and or not available at a public hospital (details supplied) under the provisions of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35460/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1750 to 1752, inclusive, together.
The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 was signed into law on 20 December 2018. It permits termination to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Expanded services for termination of pregnancy under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 were introduced from 1 January 2019.
There is regular ongoing engagement between the Department of Health and the HSE to facilitate the smooth-running of the service and to resolve any issues that may arise. Nonetheless, as a number of Deputy’s queries relate to service matters, the HSE would be better placed to provide the relevant information. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
Question No. 1751 answered with Question No. 1750.
