Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join others in welcoming the motion. It is a good and timely motion because the issue of access to contraception and to the full range of sexual health and reproductive rights has been identified as something that was a concern in many parts of the world during the Covid-19 crisis. It is good to remind ourselves during the health crisis we have more widely in terms of Covid-19, that there are lots of other time-sensitive health needs and it is important that we do all we can to ensure they can be accessed. There are many positive elements to the motion, which, as already stated, I support. However, I want to highlight a number of elements within it that are particularly important and positive. I like the fact that the motion recognises that this is an issue of women's rights and of human rights in the wider sense. It is important to recognise, as was said, the needs of the LGBT community and other needs when it comes to access to contraception.

The motion identifies the multiple reasons that people may need to access contraception, a matter which others have spoken about. It mentions multiple health needs and addresses issues such as disease prevention and pregnancy prevention but there are other huge issues, such as family planning and health needs. The motion recognises that breadth of purposes.

I note the emphasis on that ancillary recommendation from the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. It is really important because we know that received a huge focus from the committee. It was not necessarily the part that got all of the headlines in the media but I know the members of the committee put huge thought and work into the detail of the ancillary recommendations. As we approach the review of that legislation, it is important that we have demonstrable progress on those ancillary recommendations.

As others have said, there have been recommendations on comprehensive sex and relationship education, which will be really important. We need to move forward on that, including on the issue of consent. We need to look at consent before college age and we need to recognise the different realities and experiences of young people and make sure they are reflected in that education.

The other key recommendation was on free contraception. There was an important line in that recommendation, which others have touched on. The committee recommended: "The introduction of a scheme for the provision of the most effective method of contraception, free of charge and having regard to personal circumstances." That matter needs to be addressed. Members have talked about long-acting reversible contraceptives, LARCs, and how for many people and women, that is the right choice. That is especially true when it comes to particular personal circumstances such as those who are in rural areas, those who are in difficult family situations and those who have economic difficulties. It is important that they are given access to LARCs and that there is a choice so that they have that opportunity to identify the right form of contraception for them. The motion focuses on people aged 17 to 25, as a matter of priority, but it also calls for the development of universal free contraception within the lifetime of this Government. It will be good if we are given a timeline for universal contraception in the next few months. It might not just be about age cohorts though we begin with 17 to 25-year-olds. There are, as has been discussed, particular vulnerable groups such as people living in direct provision and in other situations. We should not simply think of the roll-out just in terms of time but make sure that it is planned according to need.

I strongly welcome this positive motion but I want to highlight that it sits in a wider context. Last week, I was re-elected to the executive of the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual & Reproductive Rights. It produces a global contraception atlas every year that considers access to contraception at a global level. The 2020 atlas highlighted that in some northern European countries there is a 73% level of general access to contraception, it is 69% in parts of western Europe and 66% in Ireland, which is lower than the European average. Crucially, in Ireland there is still an unmet need for contraception rate of 6%. The atlas highlighted a few other key issues. One is that there have been positive policy changes in a number of countries regarding financial barriers, as proposed and is being attempted here today, but there has been a rollback in some countries.

Last year, was the 25th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development. There is a huge unmet need for contraception internationally. I hope that in the spirit of what we are doing about access in Ireland that the State will, in its international development policy, support access to contraception on a global level. That is particularly important following a very difficult period in the global gag rule when many international health needs were compromised. We must continue the same spirit of providing access to the people who need it most here in Ireland and, indeed, universal access on a global level.