Written answers

Tuesday, 13 December 2005

Department of Health and Children

Departmental Agencies

11:00 pm

Photo of Pat CareyPat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 202: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children her views on the concerns of an organisation (details supplied) regarding the fact that although the statutory mandate of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency is primarily to reduce abortion, it seems to have no targeted policy to achieve; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39145/05]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The purpose of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency is to bring strategic focus to the issue of crisis pregnancy and so to add further value to the work of existing service providers. The function of the agency is, through the development and implementation of this strategy, to effect a reduction in the number of crisis pregnancies and to ensure the provision of supports and services for women faced with crisis pregnancy, both during and after the pregnancy itself. The agency works toward the reduction in the number of women experiencing a crisis pregnancy in a number of ways, some of which include the following.

On education initiatives aimed at preventing crisis pregnancy, the agency, through the development of the You Can Talk To Me campaign, supports parents as the primary educators of young people on sex and relationships. The agency's Think Contraception campaign is directed at sexually active young adults to educate them on the risks associated with unprotected sex. The CPA has just produced a resource targeting older women on issues such as fertility, contraception and sexual health to again educate them on risks as many women in the older age group can experience crisis pregnancy.

The agency has, since its inception, strongly supported the development of crisis pregnancy counselling services nationally. The agency has increased counselling services by 50% enabling women all across the country to access free, non-judgmental counselling. Counselling plays a valuable role in diffusing the sense of crisis for the woman, allowing her to explore her choices; it is the belief of many counsellors that good crisis pregnancy counselling can help the woman, who might have opted for abortion, to explore other options. On funding, the agency has invested strongly in the development of services nationally such as adoption services, supported accommodation, youth health services, information services, etc.

It is the belief of the agency that the achievement of its strategic objectives over its ten-year remit will reduce the incidence of crisis pregnancy and thereby the number of women who choose abortion. There has been a reduction in the number of women giving Irish addresses at UK abortion clinics in the past three years as shown in the following table. The agency believes that its actions have in part contributed to this reduction. However, the agency believes that abortions figures should be mapped over five years to assess any emerging trends.

Year Number of abortions
2001 6,673
2002 6,522 (down by 151)
2003 6,320 (down by 202)
2004 6,217 (down by 103)

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