Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I agree with him, and it is important the stigma is not there. Additional funding of €550,000 was allocated through the budget for 2025 to improve access to HIV PrEP, bringing a total allocation for PrEP to €6.45 million this year. An additional €600,000 has been allocated to support wider access to home STI testing, given increasing demand for the services. This brings funding for STI testing to €4.82 million in 2025. More than 126,000 kits were ordered in 2024, with a return rate of 71% and just under 10% of returned kits indicating a reactive result. Work to make some forms of contraception more easily available through the community pharmacies is under way and additional measures to increase capacity for sexual health care will be outlined in the new strategy.

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