Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

I was alarmed to read this morning figures on the sale of the morning after pill. Some pharmacies have increased their sales of the morning after pill from 30 to 90 per week, which is astonishing. This is something that should be a last resort but this indicates that perhaps it is being used as a contraceptive. Young women in many instances are putting themselves at risk of sexually transmitted diseases.

It also has many side-effects for reproductive health and causes other problems down the line for young women. Will the Leader ask the Minister for Health to liaise with the pharmaceutical bodies to obtain more precise figures on this? Perhaps raising the price should be considered. The price was reduced from €50 to €15 last year. We should also have an awareness campaign about the potential dangers of partaking in this type of contraception. The bigger problem is the social one that throughout the country intercourse has become much more casual, and we probably need to debate this and the Minister of Health should bring his attention to it.