MINISTER FOR HEALTH Stephen Donnelly has reiterated that the publicly funded IVF scheme, which opens today, will be expanded to include more people, including couples who use donor materials.

Donnelly said that it is his intention that the scheme will be expanded over time.

He said: “For example, one of the groups that it has not yet been possible to provide the service for  – and that we absolutely must, and will – is individuals and couples where it’s assisted human reproduction in terms of donor materials.

“That’s a group who feel that they have been left out. They haven’t, this came because of very clear advice from the clinicians that we need to have the regulatory framework on the legislation in place.”

Donnelly said this group will be included in the scheme once the Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) Bill is passed by the Oireachtas.

From today, one publicly funded IVF cycle will be available to those who meet access criteria with patients now being referred through Regional Fertility Hubs.

Patients referred by their GP to these Hubs, whose fertility issues cannot be managed at a low level of intervention, are now being referred for AHR treatment in private clinics.

Announced in July, the scheme will also cover up to three cycles of IUI (Intrauterine Insemination Treatment) for those deemed clinically determined for such treatment.

The scheme, which was allocated €10mn under Budget 2023, has been criticised by some for its strict access criteria. 

Currently a single person, same-sex couples, or hetrosexual couples who require donor eggs or sperm will not be eligible for the scheme.

The Government aims to get the legislation to regulate the use of donor materials over the line by the end of the year, but it could take further months to put the regulations in place, meaning significant delays for that cohort of people waiting to avail of the publicly funded model.

On the funding model for this scheme, the Department of Health said in a statement that the publicly-funded, privately-provided AHR treatment is an interim measure with the ultimate objective being a complete publicly-provided fertility service.

In this regard, it said the first public National AHR Centre is scheduled to open next year.

The fertility hubs are located at:

• National Maternity Hospital, Dublin
• Rotunda Hospital, Dublin
• Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, Dublin
• Galway University Hospital
• Cork University Maternity Hospital
• Nenagh General Hospital as part of Limerick University Maternity Hospital.

According to the Minister for Health, it is estimated that 3,000 couples will use the scheme each year.

With reporting from Christina Finn.