Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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195. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the study that his Department has conducted asking service providers of termination of pregnancy services about their experiences with protesters and their demands; when the details of this study will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46891/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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At the end of 2019 the Department of Health held an informal consultation with service providers, to examine their experiences during the initial months of termination of pregnancy service roll-out and to inform the Department's consideration of safe access to termination services. No formal consultation process was commissioned or conducted in this regard.

The Department requested that the HSE circulate questionnaires to those providing termination of pregnancy services in the community and in the acute hospital sector.

No responses were returned by any of the nineteen maternity hospitals/units in the country.  

A total of 85 completed questionnaires were received in response to the questionnaire circulated to General Practitioners providing termination of pregnancy services. At the time, a total of 340 GPs were participating in providing termination services.  

While the consultation response rate among GPs was low, it indicated that 29 GPs had experienced protests at their practices. Of the 85 GPs who responded, 74 indicated that protests had no effect on patients attending their practices, and 71 said there was no effect on staff working at the premises.  

Fifteen GPs who responded to the consultation indicated that they wanted safe access legislation to be introduced.  

Officials in my Department continue to prioritise safe access to termination of pregnancy services and to examine legislative options in this area. I plan to have proposals for safe access zones on the legislative programme for Spring 2022.