Recent research commissioned and published by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency refers to the unworthy practices of so called rogue agencies. The reported behaviour of these agencies towards vulnerable women experiencing crisis pregnancies is objectionable and unprofessional; it shows that they are not focused on helping women. Indeed the research found that their tactics extended to lies, threats and misrepresentation, behaviour that should be brought to the attention of the Garda authorities.
While there are no plans to consider a regulated licensing system such as that proposed by the Deputy, a greater awareness amongst the public of the professional counselling services available from reputable crisis pregnancy agencies is an important step to counteracting the work of rogue agencies. The Positive Options campaign, developed by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, CPA, in 2002, is one such major information programme that has been promoting support services in crisis pregnancy. The focus of the campaign is to make women more aware of their options, should they have a crisis pregnancy, and to improve the supports and assistance available to women in this situation.
Initiatives undertaken as part of the campaign have included a text message information service, wallet card, posters, website and television advertisements. Last year the CPA achieved the national dissemination of 250,000 leaflets, 250,000 cards and 10,000 posters to key points such as GP surgeries, family planning clinics, pharmacies, libraries, schools and citizens information centres. The Positive Options website received 1,000 hits per month in 2004, which is a measure of the response to this information campaign. My Department is monitoring the impact of this extensive information campaign.
Furthermore, the CPA is sponsoring consumer tips in the Dublin Golden Pages to promote the use of trustworthy counselling services. It has also placed advertisements with the national and regional Golden Pages directories. The CPA has also written to all crisis pregnancy counselling agencies requesting them to monitor complaints against rogue agencies.