Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Health when the Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021 will progress to committee stage. [60605/21]

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to the introduction of measures to address period poverty. Government supported the Free Provision of Period Products Bill 2021 (Bill 4),proposed by Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee and sponsored by Senators Catherine Ardagh and Mary Fitzpatrick, which seeks to make period products freely available to all those who need them. A debate on the matter was held in Seanad Éireann on 8th February, 2021; the Bill has now passed to Committee stage

Government has further agreed that the recommendations of the Period Poverty in Ireland Discussion Paper be taken into account in terms of further development of the Bill and that cross-Government, inter-Departmental, interagency and societal support for the Bill and related implementation measures should be sought, including from voluntary and private sector organisations that provide services funded by the State, as well as from public service providers.

The recommendations of the Report include, but are not limited to, consideration of the provision of free period products in public buildings, through publicly funded services and in the context of education.

The Department of Health has established a Period Poverty Implementation Group, with representation from most Government Departments, to achieve cross sectoral input in relation to implementation measures recommended in the Discussion Paper. It is envisaged that the work of the Group will address the indignity experienced by those who may need period products every month but cannot afford them.

The work in relation to progressing of the Bill to the next stage is ongoing within this context.