Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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1162. To ask the Minister for Health the steps that he is taking to ensure that abortion healthcare services are available in all maternity hospitals. [55161/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is Government policy that termination of pregnancy services under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 should be provided in all 19 maternity hospitals.

The HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) has advised that all 19 maternity hospitals offer a range of services in relation to termination of pregnancy, including:

- supporting women with any post termination complications;

- provision of ultrasound scanning, where required;

- providing appropriate care and supervision in cases where maternal health/life is at risk, and referral to the appropriate tertiary hospital, as appropriate; - and providing appropriate care and supervision for women following a diagnosis of fatal foetal anomaly, and referral to the appropriate tertiary unit.

In addition, currently 11 of the 19 maternity hospitals are providing full termination of pregnancy services, as prescribed in the 2018 Act, which includes termination in early pregnancy (i.e. under 12 weeks).

NWIHP continues to engage with the maternity hospitals with a plan for having 17 of the 19 sites providing termination services in early pregnancy by Q2 2023.

In terms of the last two hospital sites, NWIHP is committed to continuing engagement to develop a plan for termination service provision in 2023.

There is ongoing engagement between the Department of Health and the HSE to facilitate the operation of the service and to resolve any issues that may arise.