Dr. Mary Favier:

I will answer the Deputy's question about how we propose to address potential gaps in the nine-week provision. Our members have expressed concern in their online feedback about how this service will be provided in remote areas with small numbers of GPs who are under pressure and who are not taking new patients. We have not been in a position to do a mapping exercise on the numbers because we do not know what we are mapping against in terms of the legislation or the guidelines. Some innovative suggestions have been made. There is good international evidence that this problem can be solved in various ways, for example involving mobile provision. A service run by a family planning clinic or another GP could be provided in a local area once a month, for example. These are just suggestions. Someone who rings a helpline could be sent to a provider in another area. A person in a small town should be able to find a provider without having to run the gauntlet of trying to find somebody. One of the main ways of addressing this issue will have to involve the Department of Health giving a commitment to a timeline that creates an expectation relating to when care will be delivered. Women who have tried without success to access the service will have to be able to ring the helpline and ask for help in accessing it. We do not have answers because the process is just starting. There is a great deal of international evidence for ways of deal with this issue. Countries like Australia and Canada have expertise of service provision in remote areas. Some countries have better provision in the north than in the south. There are various ways of doing this.