Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2022

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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693. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that he has selected a university from a non-European Union country has selected to carry out research into the experiences of Irish abortion providers as part of the three-year review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. [26508/22]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 was signed into law on 20 December 2018 and commenced on 1 January 2019. Under section 7 of the Act, a review of the operation of the Act must be initiated within three years of the commencement of the Act, i.e., before January 2022.

The Review is being led by an independent Chair and comprises of 2 main phases. As part of the first phase of the Review, information and evidence on the operation of the Act will be collected. There are 3 elements within the first phase of the Review; service user research, service provider research and public consultation.

The second phase of the Review is being led by an independent Chair who will assess the extent to which the objectives of the 2018 Act have been achieved, analysing in that regard the findings of the three strands of information. The Minister for Health appointed Ms Marie O’Shea B.L. as the independent Chair of the Review.

A request for tender to carry out the research into the views of service providers was published on eTenders. The objective of this research is to capture the views and experiences of service providers and will be a key input to the Review of the operation of the 2018 Act. A total of five responses were received and evaluated in line with procurement guidelines. The evaluation process has now concluded, and the successful tender was chosen in line with the published award criteria. This is in line with established competitive procurement processes.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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694. To ask the Minister for Health the number of taxi or courier services that were hired in 2020 and 2021 by the HSE to transport abortion pills from a general practitioner to a person who opted to have an abortion since the introduction of telemedicine abortion service in Q1 2020; and the costings for these transport and courier services as budgeted for in 2020 and 2021. [26509/22]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy’s question relates to a service area, I have referred this question to the HSE for direct response.

Photo of Peadar TóibínPeadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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695. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 806 of 10 May 2022 and 708 of 17 May 2022, if his attention has been drawn to incidents in which abortions have taken place after an unborn baby has been misdiagnosed as having a fatal condition; and if so, the number of incidents to which his attention was drawn. [26517/22]

Photo of Stephen DonnellyStephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As noted in PQ response 24558/22, under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, services are legally obliged to notify the Minister for Health of the following information:

- Medical Council registration number of the medical practitioner who carried out the termination of pregnancy;

- The section of the Act under which the termination was carried out, i.e., section 9, 10, 11 or 12;

- Medical Council registration number(s) of the medical practitioner(s) who made the certification concerned;

- The county of residence, or place of residence (where the woman resides outside of the State) of the woman concerned;

- The date on which the termination of pregnancy was carried out.

With reference to terminations carried out under section 11 of the Act (condition likely to lead to death of foetus), the Minister was notified of 100 such terminations in 2019 and 97 in 2020.

The HSE may also advise the Department of major/significant patient safety issues and incidents through the HSE and the Department of Health Protocol – Communications in relation to major/significant patient safety issues and incidents. This is a formal mechanism by which the Department and the Minister for Health are informed by the HSE in an anonymised way of serious patient safety incidents that occur in health services. The Department of Health, via this protocol, is kept updated regarding the completion of incident reviews, the implementation of the recommendations and learning from reviews to improve services.

My Department has been made aware through the Protocol of one issue in relation to a termination under section 11 of the Act since 2019.  On such sensitive matters, it is vital that confidentiality is maintained and the Department does not comment on individual cases.

Serious adverse events in health and social care services have a devastating impact on the families concerned. It is vital that our health services take steps to ensure serious adverse events are appropriately reviewed and responded to at a national level. I advise that anyone affected by any incidents related to termination of pregnancy services should raise their concerns with the HSE.

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