Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know what Deputy Donnelly is trying to do and his intentions are very good. In respect of the phrase "all maternity" services, people engage in many things during pregnancy that we could never expect the State to cover, such as yoga and well-being classes. The term "all maternity services" would cover a very broad church. On the drugs issue, Deputy Donnelly mentioned a particular drug, Cariban, used for some cases of morning sickness. He did not mention this today but he did reference it in another meeting, I cannot remember which but I think it was the Joint Committee on Health. It costs money - off the top of my head I think on average it is about €30 for a 21 day supply in the pharmacy. That drug, however, is not licensed for the indication for which it is being used and it is being prescribed off-licence.

I always caution against the provision of drugs that are licence-free. We do not often do that in this country. I want to highlight that. Regarding reversible long-acting contraceptives such as the coil and implant, it is untrue to state they cost hundreds of euro. A coil, give or take, costs about €140 on average and there is also an insertion cost. A coil covers contraception for five years, so when the fee is divided by five it is not that expensive. From my experience I have found that the combination of the expense of having a baby coupled with the price of a coil and a doctor's consultation means that sometimes the amount of money required is outside of people's limit in a pressured financial situation after having a baby. I completely support the suggestion of free contraception, as it was my suggestion at the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. That was based on the evidence that we saw which, from memory, was that 44% of people said contraception failure was part of the reason. On the morning-after pill in the community pharmacy setting, I believe that in the early stages the Minister for Health made it available free to medical card holders in the community pharmacy setting at the weekend to avoid people with medical cards being unjustly treated. My knowledge of the morning-after pill is that it is between €20 and €30 on average in the community setting. It is means tested as part of the medical card so it is deemed to be for people who have the means to pay, if the committee understands what I am saying.