Vol. 552 No. 4
57 Mr. M. Higgins asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress 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. [12548/02]
67 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will report on the operation of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency which was proposed in 2000 as part of an action plan to deal with abortion. [12453/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 57 and 67 together.
I established the Crisis Pregnancy Agency on 2 October 2001 under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act, 1961. I subsequently appointed the board of the agency, with Ms Olive Braiden as chairperson. Two staff have been seconded from my Department to enable the agency to become operational as soon as possible. Premises in Capel Street, Dublin 1 have been acquired by the agency and have been fitted out and equipped. The agency moved into these offices on 9 January.
The agency has informed me that its first priority is the recruitment of key staff. The agency hopes to appoint a director very shortly. Preliminary interviews have been held for the appointment of three managers and the board also hopes to appoint these without delay.
The agency has already met with a number of key agencies for initial consultations. The agency intends to conduct a wide-ranging process of consultation leading to the drafting of a national strategy to address crisis pregnancy. For this purpose it placed advertisements in the national press yesterday inviting submissions from Departments, service providers, interested parties and the public on all relevant issues. A sum of €6.5 million has been provided for the agency in the current year. The agency will be considering the allocation of this funding in the course of the year.
The Crisis Pregnancy Agency is to be a planning and co-ordinating body, rather than a provider of services. Its principal tasks, once it is fully operational, will be to prepare the national strategy on crisis pregnancy and then, on an ongoing basis, to oversee the implementation of this strategy by a range of statutory and non-statutory agencies.
