Vol. 552 No. 4
55 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the recent call made by the Irish Family Planning Association that the morning after pill should be available without a prescription in order to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12554/02]
I am aware of the views expressed by the Irish Family Planning Association regarding the availability of the morning after pill. The question of licensing any medicinal product, and the conditions which should attach to its sale, are matters for the Irish Medicines Board in the first instance. The board has informed me that, to date, it has not received an application for the licensing of a particular product intended for use as a post-coital contraceptive pill.
