Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am here to speak on behalf of Sinn Féin's Seanad team to say that we welcome this motion and are happy to support it. As has been said by many others, this State has a long history of denying women the right to make decisions about their bodies. The referendum to repeal the eighth amendment was an important step in redressing that but the country still has a way to go.

Previous speakers mentioned the issue of period poverty, which is addressed in the programme for Government. We would hope to see progress on this because periods did stop during the pandemic but access to period products was severely hampered for homeless people and for those in direct provision centres. I commend the work being done by the Homeless Period Ireland and Claire Hunt, the woman who runs that organisation from her kitchen table. She does not take any charitable donations and she is not a charity. She just did it because she saw a film about a person being criminalised for stealing period products and it motivated her to set up this organisation and to go out of her way to help. She does that with a group of volunteers but it goes to show once again that it is women who are put in the position whereby they cannot have access to the products they need.

Contraception is similar and it should be provided by the State for free. A person's decision about his or her healthcare should be up to him or her alone and should not be dictated by the State or by economic circumstances or ability to pay. Unfortunately for some people, the cost of contraception is a significant barrier to accessing it. According to the report that was released last month by the Dublin Well Woman Centre, the cost is a significant consideration for 44% of women when choosing their methods of contraception. For women who are just above the qualification criteria for a medical card, the cost can be prohibitive. Autonomy should be central to the State's approach to women's health and making contraception free would go some way to achieving that.

In addition to the cost of contraception, there are several other barriers that should be looked at when designing a State-funded scheme. One of the main barriers is distance. Contraception should be available to women all over the country, no matter where they live. Senator Hoey talked about this and I am shocked to hear that women are still having to travel to find pharmacies. I remember 20 years ago having to travel to find a GP who would prescribe emergency contraception. We know from the Dublin Well Woman Centre report that it is not the case that it is accessible to women all over the country. The report found that 18% of women still have to leave their home towns in order to avail of the contraception of their choice. That is not good enough and it is clearly something that we need to look at when we are designing the scheme.

We also need to be cognisant of the fact that certain groups will face greater barriers than others. I am talking about young people, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, people with disabilities, Travellers and other marginalised groups. Specific measures must be introduced to address their contraceptive needs in any State-funded programme. We also need to be cognisant of the LGBT community. Although the burden of contraception all too often falls to women, it does not have to be theirs alone. We should give consideration to supporting men who wish to avail of contraception, particularly vasectomies. Although that procedure does not provide protection against sexually transmitted disease, it can give another option to couples or individuals who are seeking contraception.

Important work has been undertaken by the Department of Health through its working group on access to contraception. The Irish Family Planning Association has expressed its concern that no progress appears to have been made since the publication of the working group's report over a year ago so more must be done. I know that Sinn Féin representatives recently co-signed a letter to the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Health, with the aim of ensuring that sexual health and reproductive health and rights are central to Government policy.

I and Sinn Féin welcome that the motion calls on the Government to honour its commitments in the programme for Government. The Government should implement the roll-out of contraception to women aged 17 to 25. I agree that we need to look at providing contraception to all women for when they need it and that we should set a timeline for universal free contraception. I welcome the motion's role in reminding the Government of what it committed to in respect of contraception in the programme for Government.