Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Following on from the contributions of others, I also wish to mark the sad passing of Austin Currie. I pass on my condolences, as others have done, to Emer and the whole Currie family on their sad and sudden loss. I spoke to Emer this morning and she asked me to pass on her appreciation to everyone who has contacted her and the family. It is a great source of strength to them at this time. Mr. Currie was elected in 1989, the same day as my mother. They were very good friends and Emer and I often joke about how we, too, entered this building and the irony involved in that. It is a sad time for the Currie family.

I ask the Deputy Leader for an update on the Government's commitment to provide funding for IVF treatment for women and couples. Ireland, along with Lithuania, is one of only two countries that still do not provide State funding for assisted reproduction, even though the World Health Organization recognises infertility as a medical condition. The legislation was supposed to have passed last year and then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, worked on the matter. It was thought the legislation would have gone through by now and IVF would be available. Some €2 million was designated for the procurement of IVF doctors in the public sector. IVF patients typically have many expenses beyond the procedure itself that can add significantly to the overall costs involved. Those costs include medications, blood tests and ultrasound monitoring. Government in general, and this Government in particular, has done an awful lot to support families and women through maternity and paternity leave. Everything we do is intended to try to support the family network but IVF treatment is one area that has been left out. Many people across the country want to have a child and the expense of it, especially if they have to attend more than once or twice, is astronomical and the State needs to support those families. They only have a certain period within which they can get that treatment and the longer we leave it, the more likely it is that people will be left out. I urge the Deputy Leader to get an update on that issue.