Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Minister for Health announced that IVF will be funded by the public system in 2023. For many couples, of course, that is a very welcome announcement. If it happens, it will mean that Ireland is no longer the only country in the EU without any public funding for IVF. It would mean that access to this fertility treatment will no longer be reserved for those who either have enough money or for those who are willing and able to go into substantial debt.

However, I do not want to hold my breath about it, because we have heard this before from the then Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, in 2016, it is in Sláintecare, it is in the programme for Government, and there has been precious little progress. I am asking the Taoiseach for a guarantee that this will actually happen in 2023 as well as for a timeframe for when that will be within that year. I am also asking for a commitment that sufficient funding will be provided for the public system to ensure it can be done publicly as opposed to being outsourced to private, mostly for-profit, providers.

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