Fianna Fáil Senator in Louth, Erin McGreehan, has said Fianna Fáil in Government is allocating unprecedented funding to women’s health.

Since 2020 there has been a huge investment of over €140 million of additional funding allocated specifically towards women’s health initiatives.

Senator McGreehan said, “Fianna Fáil’s vision for healthcare, as set out in the Programme for Government, is a public health service which provides everyone with access to high quality, affordable care when they need it.

“My party colleague and Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly started a revolution in women’s health since coming into office in 2020, focusing on areas such as specialist centres for endometriosis, fertility hubs, lactation consultants, and the establishment of dedicated specialist menopause clinics.

“The significant investment of additional funding in recent years is aligned to the Government’s commitment in the Programme for Government, the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce and the Minister for Health’s priorities for women’s health, as reflected in the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-2023, which was launched in March 2022.”

Measures introduced during this Governments term in office include: 

·                   The Free Contraception Scheme which was introduced in September 2022 and is now available to women aged between 17 and 31. 198,000 women had accessed the scheme by the end of October last year.

·                  Six Regional Fertility Hubs are now operational across the country and are providing access to publicly funded Assisted Human Reproduction treatment (including IVF, ICSI and IUI).

·                  Two Specialist Endometriosis Centres for complex care have been established, along with 5 regional hubs.

·                  Six Specialist Menopause Clinics have opened and, when running at full capacity, will each see and treat 500 patient per year. 

·                  17 of our 19 maternity hospitals are providing full termination of pregnancy services, as prescribed in the 2018 Act, with services commencing in the final two hospital sites in 2024.

Reflecting on the milestones achieved to date, Senator McGeehan said, “These are just some of the measures introduced under Minister Stephen Donnelly which speaks to the commitment of Fianna Fail in Government to create a revolution in women’s health, changing mindsets and introducing sensible, modern healthcare to ensure Irish women have full control of their reproductive health.”

“My colleagues and I will continue to work with Minister Donnelly to ensure that people all over the country get the care they need at the time they need it.”