Ms Janice Donlon:

The programme has a reporting relationship with the Health Products Regulatory Authority, HPRA, in terms of the number of cases of abortifacient tablets seized by customs. We have data from 2008 up to 2016. In 2016, for example, 536 abortifacients were seized; in 2014, that number was 1,017. It seems that the number of seizures by customs has reduced. Evidence may have come through Dr. Abigail Aiken's research on the abortion pill that women are finding alternative methods of importing the abortion pill. That may be through using Parcel Motel or those sort of providers and the numbers may reflect that in terms of customs seizures. We established that relationship with the HPRA in the absence of any other information that we had on the use of the abortion pill. We were trying to see trends in terms of seizures. Now that we have that reporting relationship and we have understanding through Dr. Aiken's research, we are better able to establish trends in the numbers of women who are accessing abortion pills online.