THE DEPARTMENT OF Health is planning to fund IVF services from 2023, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin saying today that “regional fertility hubs” will be established before that.

A public fund which promised financial support for people undergoing fertility treatment was first announced in 2017, with commitments to fund IVF also contained in the Programme for Government. 

Earlier this year, the government published the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill which will provide a basis for infertility services but no strict timeline for public IVF was provided. 

It has now been confirmed by the Department of Health that it is hoped this would come on stream in 2023. 

Speaking in the Dáil today, Martin said Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly increased funding for women’s health in this year’s Budget. 

The minister intends to have a model of care for infertility, which will see the introduction of advanced assisted human reproduction treatments, including IVF, in the public health system. Mr Donnelly plans to commence this in 2023.

Currently, Ireland is the only country in the European Union where fertility treatments such IVF are not publicly funded.

Martin was speaking in the Dáil today in response to questions from People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who has spoken publicly about the cost of IVF treatments for himself and his partner. 

Murphy noted that there have been promises from previous governments about IVF funding and that he was doubtful whether it would happen next year. 

“I don’t want to hold my breath about it, because we have heard this before, from the then minister for health Leo Varadkar in 2016, it’s in Sláintecare, it’s in the Programme for Government and there has been precious little progress,” he said.

So I’m asking Taoiseach for a guarantee that this is actually going to happen in 2023 and a timeframe for when that will be within that year. I’m also asking for a commitment that sufficient funding will be provided for the public system to ensure it can be done publicly, as opposed to outsourced private, mostly for-profit providers.

The question of the private companies profiting from infertility treatments is one that has been investigated by Noteworthy, with some private facility clinics reporting profits of well over €1 million in financial statements. 

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Speaking today, Fine Gael TD Neale Richmond also told the Dáil that publicly available IVF must be matched but statutory employee leave to attend appointments. 

“What preparatory work has begun in relation to ensure that both parents will be eligible for leave dates and sick leave dates during this period, that eligibility will be inclusive of all of society?,” he said.

Can we ensure that this process will be open and accessible to all very quickly because the uncertainty is already playing on so many hearts and minds of people around the country.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin noted that the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill passed its second stage in March and continues to work its way through the Oireachtas. 

“Phase One of the rollout of the model of care has involved the establishment at secondary care level of regional fertility hubs within maternity networks in order to facilitate the management of a significant proportion of people presenting infertility issues at this level of intervention,” he said.

Phase Two of the rollout will see the introduction of tertiary infertility services, including IVF, in the public health system planned for 2023 at such time as infertility serves a secondary level services have been developed across the country.

“The key legislation, the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, passed second stage on 23 March, has been referred to the Select Committee on Health for third stage. It’s important to get that through to create the legislative base.”