Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)
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2876. To ask the Minister for Health the work her Department is undertaking to tackle the declining fertility rate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42551/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Data contained in a recent report prepared for the Minister of Social Protection by the CSO show the fertility rate in Ireland for 2024 stood at 1.5, a decrease of 0.5 from the 2014 fertility rate of 2. This rate is marginally higher than the EU average fertility rate, and is in line with the rate in many other EU countries. While this decline in fertility rates is attributable to a myriad of factors, including social and cultural factors, which are beyond the remit of my Department, I am committed to ensuring that supports are are in place for those who require medical assistance on their fertility journeys.

The Model of Care for Fertility was developed by my Department in conjunction with the HSE’s National Women and Infants Health Programme to ensure that fertility-related issues can be addressed through the public system at the lowest level of intervention necessary.

A couple seeking assistance through this Model may in the first instance seek a referral to a Regional Fertility Hub from their GP. The Fertility Hubs have successfully managed thousands of patients presenting with fertility-related issues at this secondary level of intervention without requiring them to undergo IVF treatment. Each of the Regional Fertility hubs is positioned to provide a suite of investigations and tests free of charge and will work with the couple to determine the next appropriate clinical steps for treatment. Many of these will be available through the Fertility Hub itself, or by referral to another public service.

Where it is determined that a couple require advanced AHR treatment, such as IVF, ICSI, or IUI, and they meet the established access criteria, they will be referred to one of eight HSE-approved private providers, as chosen by the eligible patient concerned, for such treatment. Since this phase of the Model of Care on Fertility commenced in September 2023, over 2,500 couples have been referred by a reproductive specialist, following secondary level treatment within the Regional Fertility Hubs.

I recently expanded the access criteria to the scheme so that couples who have one child but are experiencing secondary infertility may now access the scheme if they meet the existing criteria.

Further support will be provided by Ireland’s first public AHR centre which is scheduled to open in Cork later this year. Service provision will commence in late 2025 and the centre will become fully operational in 2026.

Individuals who access AHR treatment on a private basis may claim tax relief on the costs involved under the tax relief for medical expenses scheme. Additionally a defined list of fertility medicines needed for fertility treatment is covered under the High Tech Arrangements administered by the HSE for both public and private patients, subject to the usual PCRS arrangements.