Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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27. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on the review of abortion legislation taking place by his Department; and to provide a timeline for the completion of same. [23316/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Independent Review of the Operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 made a number of recommendations around increasing access to services, most of which are operational in nature.

The HSE, as requested by Government established a service improvement group to progress the operational recommendations. Meetings of this group are ongoing.

Significant progress has already been made in this regard, for instance six additional hospitals started providing termination services in 2023, an increase of 55%.

Termination services in early pregnancy (up to 12 weeks) are currently provided in 17 of the 19 maternity hospitals, with the remaining two expected to come onboard in 2024.

There has also been a sustained increase in community providers, approximately an additional 20 in the last 12 months alone.

Furthermore, the revised model of care introduced in response to the Covid pandemic has now been approved as the enduring model of care. Under this blended approach, it is possible for one of the two consultations required for termination in early pregnancy to take place remotely.

This will alleviate the time and expense involved in travelling to the GP's surgery twice.

The cumulative effect of these measures, now in place, will substantially reduce barriers and increase access to services for those who need it.

Safe Access Legislation passed both Houses of the Oireachtas and was signed by the President on 7^th May 2024.

The Review proposals recommending legislative changes were referred to the Joint Committee on Health for consideration. The Joint Committee on Health submitted a report on the proposed legislative recommendations in December 2023. Further consideration of this issue is to take place at the Cabinet Committee on Health.