Richard Boyd Barrett
Question:740. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of introducing a fully funded universal contraception scheme. [24187/23]
View answerTuesday, 23 May 2023
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Written answers
The free contraception scheme for women aged 17 - 25 was launched on 14th September, 2022, and expanded to include 26 year-olds on January 1st, 2023. The scheme is currently open to women aged 17-26, ordinarily resident in Ireland, and is due to be expanded to women aged 30 and under by September 1st, 2023.
For eligible women, the free contraception scheme provides for:
• The cost of consultations with GPs, family planning clinics and other relevant medical professionals to discuss contraceptive options with eligible patients and to provide prescriptions for these;
• The cost of prescription contraception, dispensed at local pharmacy of choice;
• The cost of fitting and/or removal of various types of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) plus any necessary checks, by medical professionals certified to fit/remove LARCs (e.g. intrauterine devices (IUD), systems (IUS), coils and implants);
• The cost of providing the wide range of contraceptive options currently available to GMS (medical) card holders, which will also be available through this scheme, including contraceptive injections, implants, IUS and IUDs, the contraceptive patch and ring, and various forms of oral contraceptive pill, including emergency contraception.
• Women who have had coils, IUDs, IUSs or implants inserted under the scheme will remain eligible for the subsequent checks and free removal of any devices that were inserted before their 27th birthday, in order to ensure continuity of care.
• Funding through Budget 2023 was also allocated to expand the scheme to 16 year-olds, but this is subject to consultation across Government, legal advice and legislative amendment.
As per the recommendations of the Report of the Working Group on Access to Contraception (which was published in 2019 and is available on the Department’s website), it was decided to commence the scheme with younger age cohorts, as they are least likely to be financially independent and many are still engaged in full time education.
The Report of the Working Group on Access to Contraception also highlighted concerns around the capacity to fit LARCs. However, the ICGP have been funded from 2022 to increase the number of LARC trained GPs, thereby increasing capacity over time.
Approximately €32 million was allocated to the scheme in Budget 2023; projections, estimates and costings for expansion to the whole population were also laid out and discussed in the Working Group's Report.
Any decision relating to further expansion of the scheme will be a matter for the Estimates process in advance of Budget 2024.