Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)
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822. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the budget measure of free contraception for women aged 17 to 25 years of age; if it includes long-acting reversible contraceptives, diaphragms, copper coil, the vagina ring, condoms and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50958/21]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government commits to providing free contraception for women, starting with the 17-25 age cohort.

Accordingly, funding for free contraception, starting with women aged 17-25, has been allocated in 2022. The initiative is gradually being introduced by age cohort, starting with younger women who are least likely to be financially independent and where cost has been shown to be a greater barrier to access contraception.

The scheme will provide for:

- The cost of prescription contraception (with the exception of the €1.50 prescription charge);

- The cost of fitting and/or removal of various types of long-acting reversible contraception and administration of contraceptive injections plus any necessary checks, by medical professionals certified to fit/remove same;

- The cost of training and certifying additional medical professionals to fit and remove long-acting reversible contraception;

- The cost of a maximum of two consultations per annum with GPs and other doctors to discuss forms of contraception suitable for individual patients and to enable prescription of same.

It is envisaged that a wide range of contraceptive options, currently available to medical card holders, will be made available through this scheme. This includes contraceptive injections, implants, various types of intrauterine system (IUS) or device (IUD; commonly known as the coil), the contraceptive patch and ring, and various forms of oral contraceptive pill.

In order to give time to bring forward the necessary legislative proposals and ensure the implementation of service delivery arrangements through the appropriate areas of the healthcare system, it will not be possible to introduce the scheme ahead of the August 2022 target.

In the meantime, it should be noted that those with a medical card already have access to most forms of contraception at minimal cost (subject only to the prescription charge), while those with a GP visit card are also supported to some extent as the clinical cost element of contraception is reduced. Furthermore, the Drugs Payment Scheme, for which anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland is eligible, covers the cost of prescription items, if these exceed the monthly limit, which will be reduced from €114 to €100 through measures included in Budget 2022.