Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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571. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the development of a State-funded contraception scheme; if an implementation group has been established to progress this work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30343/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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A Working Group was established in April 2019 to consider the range of policy, regulatory and legislative issues arising in relation to improving access to contraception in Ireland.The Group’s report, which was published in October 2019, identified the barriers that exist to accessing contraception and the mechanisms available to overcome those barriers.

Following the report, it was clear that a sizable body of work would need to be addressed in order to develop and finalise the policy approach, bring forward the necessary legislative proposals and finally ensure the implementation of service delivery arrangements.

Unfortunately, work on this matter has been disrupted significantly by the need to prioritise the response to COVID.