Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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103. To ask the Minister for Health his views on health insurance companies not covering contraception; his further views on whether this is gender based discrimination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4625/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Under the Minimum Benefit Regulations, 1996, all health insurance products that provide cover for in-patient hospital treatment must provide a certain minimum level of benefits. The key purpose of the Regulations is to ensure the continued availability of the type of broad hospital cover traditionally held as a minimum by the insured population and to ensure that individuals do not significantly under-insure.

The regulations protect consumers by requiring insurers to offer a minimum set of benefits to every insured person. By way of example, the regulations include provision for such medical treatments as a prostatectomy or testicular biopsy (in the case of men) and cervical biopsy or maternity services (in the case of women). Insurers are free to design and sell private health insurance plans, providing the plans comply with the minimum benefit regulations. I have no role to play in commercial decisions taken by health insurers when determining whether to provide cover for any particular procedure or treatment, other than those already outlined in the regulations.