Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 67: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason IVF treatment is not available to a person with a medical card; if she has plans to change this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7222/08]

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 comprised 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. Its report 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 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 Assisted Human Reproduction, the report of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children, along with any judgement of the Supreme Court in the RvR Frozen Embryo case, will be taken into account.

AHR treatment for medical card holders is not presently funded under a specific national scheme. I am conscious though of the financial burden that such treatment can place on couples, and 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.