Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 55: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on the prohibitive costs of IVF treatment, that is in the region of €4,000, and that this cost is beyond the reach of the majority of people; her plans to ensure that this treatment is affordable to those who need it; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12069/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (CAHR) was established in March 2000. Its terms of reference were to prepare a report on the possible approaches to the regulation of all aspects of assisted human reproduction and the social, ethical and legal factors to be taken into account in determining public policy in this area. The CAHR was composed largely of persons with expert knowledge spanning medical, scientific, social and legal domains; this expertise was a prerequisite to a precise examination of the issues concerned.

The Commission published its report in May 2005. This was the first step in determining a policy response to Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) and it made 40 recommendations on AHR services in Ireland. The key recommendation of the Commission is that a regulatory body should be established by an Act of the Oireachtas to regulate AHR services in Ireland. The Commission proposed that this body be accountable to the Minister for Health and Children and that it would have regulatory, advisory and executive powers in relation to permitted AHR services.

The Government decided to refer the report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children so that the Committee could consider and report in due course on its views of the recommendations of the Commission. The Committee was considered an appropriate forum in which to subject the report to structured democratic and political analysis and scrutiny.

In the meantime, cognisant of the amount of work required, I instructed my Department to begin work on the development of an appropriate regulatory framework. As part of the analysis of the complex issues involved in AHR, the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee, when completed, along with any judgment of the Supreme Court in the R v R (frozen embryos) case, will be taken into account.

I am also conscious of the financial burden that AHR treatment can place on couples. I have therefore asked my Department to consider policy in this regard also. Finally, persons undergoing AHR treatment services are eligible for tax relief on medical expenses incurred; the Drugs Payment Scheme also covers a number of drugs used as part of such treatment.