Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2021
529. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the external experts outside of Government officials who are being consulted on the work of the contraception implementation group; when the group will publish its report and recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60025/21]
View answerFollowing the recommendations of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, a Working Group on Access to Contraception was established in April 2019 to consider the range of policy, regulatory and legislative issues arising in relation to improving access to contraception in Ireland. The Group’s report, which was published in October 2019, identified the barriers that exist to accessing contraception and the mechanisms available to overcome those barriers.
The report is available online at:
assets.gov.ie/38063/89059243e750415ebf7e96247a4225ae.pdf
The findings of this report made clear that a sizable body of work needs to be addressed in order to develop and finalise the policy approach, bring forward the necessary legislative proposals and ensure the implementation of service delivery arrangements.
The Programme for Government, 2020, Our Shared Future, builds on the Report's recommendations in its commitment to provide free contraception over a phased period, starting with women aged 17-25. The purpose of the Contraception Implementation Group, established in July, 2021, is to address the sizeable body of work identified in the published Report and to implement the Programme for Government commitment.
The Contraception Implementation Group is composed of Department of Health officials, who are regularly engaging with their counterparts in the HSE and reporting their findings back to the Group. Formal consultation and engagement between the Department, relevant Divisions of the HSE, stakeholder representative organizations and with the legislative process will commence in the first quarter of 2022.
A Report and recommendations are already published and publicly available through the Report of the Working Group on Contraception and through the Programme for Government. The details of the free contraception scheme for women aged 17-25 years old were announced after the Budget and can be accessed here:
www.gov.ie/en/press-release/830c2-minister-donnelly-secures-free-contraception-for-women-aged-between-17-25-years-in-budget-2022/
The primary purpose of the Contraception Implementation Group is the implementation of the scheme announced in the Budget and the officials involved are actively working on this.
