Professor Sean Daly:

Internationally, what happens is that certain doctors specialise in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Those doctors go through a formal training programme over at least two years to become specialised in that area. There are many infertility services where people have not undergone that training. There are certainly very good infertility services available in this country but the Deputy is right that this is a very vulnerable group and people will reach out to whatever service they believe can help them achieve a pregnancy. What most concerns me, or at least the reason I am here, is ultrasound. On the provision of ultrasound in infertility, there is now a nine month training programme within UCD leading to certification of expertise in infertility services. We should seek to ensure that everybody who is scanning within infertility services at least has that certification. That is not to say that clinics need to close all over the country tomorrow. They do not. However, support should at least be given to allow people to go and train and that should be audited.