Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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615. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to assist women with infertility issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46025/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, a commitment to introduce the model of care for infertility, which was developed by officials in my Department in conjunction with the HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme, is included in the Programme for Government, “Our Shared Future”. This model of care will ensure that infertility issues will be addressed through the public health system at the lowest level of clinical intervention necessary as part of the full range of services available in obstetrics and gynaecology.

The model of care comprises three stages, starting in primary care (i.e., GPs) and extending into secondary care (i.e., Regional Fertility Hubs) and then, where necessary, tertiary care (i.e., IVF and other advanced assisted human reproduction (AHR) treatments).

Structured referral pathways are being put in place and patients referred onwards for further investigations or treatment as required and as clinically appropriate.

Phase One of the roll-out of the model of care has involved the establishment, at secondary care level, of Regional Fertility Hubs in maternity networks, in order to facilitate the management of a significant proportion of patients, both male and female, presenting with infertility issues without the need to undergo IVF, or other advanced AHR, treatments.

Funding of €2m was provided to the HSE to commence Phase One of the roll-out in 2020 and this was utilised specifically in respect of the development of the first four Regional Fertility Hubs – namely, Cork University Maternity Hospital, the Rotunda Hospital, the National Maternity Hospital and the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital.

Additional funding was made available in Budget 2021 to enable the continuation of Phase One this year, through the setting-up of the final two Regional Fertility Hubs, one located within the Saolta Hospital Group, at University Hospital Galway, and one within the University of Limerick Hospital Group, at Nenagh General Hospital. Work is well underway in relation to the recruitment, refurbishment and equipping of these two Hubs.

Therefore, the completion of Phase One of the roll-out of the model of care will result in fully operational Regional Fertility Hubs in each of the six Hospital Groups across the country.

Phase Two of the roll-out will see the introduction of tertiary infertility services, including IVF, in the public health system, but will not commence until such time as infertility services at secondary level have been developed across the country, required resources have been allocated and the AHR legislation commenced.

Publication of the Bill to regulate the area of assisted human reproduction is a priority for the Government, and officials in my Department and the Office of the Attorney General will continue to engage intensively over the next few months to finalise this complex piece of legislation.

The underlying aim of the policy to provide a model of funding for AHR, within the broader AHR regulatory framework, is to improve accessibility to AHR treatments, while at the same time embedding safe and appropriate clinical practice and ensuring the cost-effective use of public resources.