Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I was at a briefing and was caught out with the early start.

I agree with points made by other speakers about the rushed nature of this. We all want to see this scheme coming in as soon as possible but we were caught unawares last week. After the briefing took place, for which I thank the Minister, I tried to table amendments and discovered that the deadline was actually the morning of the day we got the briefing. That was very unsatisfactory and the Ceann Comhairle agreed to extend that by one day. It is all very rushed, however, and there has not been time to consider the issue adequately.

I support points made by the two previous speakers. This issue was drawn to our attention by the IFPA.

It is difficult to understand what is the thinking behind the wording. My understanding from the briefing is that while this current scheme is for women aged between 17 and 25 years, the upper age limit can be changed by regulation but the lower age limit cannot. Why is that the case? Why was it not left in a situation where the Minister could lower or increase the age by regulation? Why is the Minister providing under subsection (6) that, "In making regulations under subsection (5), the Minister shall not prescribe an age under the age of 17 years"? Where did that come from and what is the thinking on that?

As others have said, there are plenty of surveys to show that a proportion of young people in Ireland, like those in most other countries, are sexually active before the age of 17 years. A HSE study of 41 young people aged 13 to 18 years found that 58.5% had experienced sexual intercourse. The mean age for first sex was 13.5 years. On average, young men had first sex at 12.9 years compared to young women at 14.5 years. That is substantially lower than 17 years. While that is not to be encouraged, and there is a lot of other work that needs to be done in terms of modern relationship and sexuality education, RSE, programmes and so forth, the reality is that a significant number of people under the age of 17 years are engaging in sexual intercourse.

A Crisis Pregnancy Agency study of sexual health issues, attitudes and behaviours in early school leavers found high levels of early sexual initiation and inconsistent use of contraception reported among this group. This is obviously a vulnerable group of young people who may not have great opportunities in life, who are early school leavers and who are more predisposed to engaging in risky behaviour. The implications of that are very considerable for their future life.

In the UK, the Fraser guidelines support healthcare professionals to advise young people about contraception and sexual health. The Minister often argues that the GP is best qualified to take key decisions about whether to prescribe particular medication or to give health advice to patients. I wonder why the Minister is tying the hands of GPs if, in a particular situation and given particular circumstances, a GP is of the view that contraception should be prescribed for somebody under 17 years. Why is he not allowing the freedom for that? The fact that there are those guidelines in the UK means that healthcare professionals can assess the maturity of the patient and help patients to make an informed decision. It is particularly important for vulnerable young people, and healthcare professionals should be able to support them in the lifestyle they have.

This is a mistake. Can the Minister explain the thinking behind it? Where has that restriction come from? Along with other Members, I strongly urge the Minister to amend this or to postpone Report Stage of this legislation and allow it to be held up until next week. We would be happy to facilitate him in that if he will bring forward an amendment on Report Stage to provide that flexibility. Just as the Minister has the flexibility to raise the age for the scheme, the Minister should also be able to lower it. I strongly urge the Minister to do that.

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