Health | The extent to which women’s health specifically remains central to the provision and delivery of a reliable level and quality of health services in all areas throughout Ireland

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which women’s health specifically remains central to the provision and delivery of a reliable level and quality of health services in all areas throughout Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Women’s Health remains a priority for both the Government and my Department and continues to be central to the provision and delivery of quality health services.

The Women’s Health Action Plan 2024-2025 Phase 2: An Evolution in Women’s Health was launched on the 18th April 2024 and represents the next phase of the Government’s commitment to improving health outcomes and experiences for women and girls in Ireland. It builds on the progress achieved under the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-2023 and is an evolution of that plan. The new Women’s Health Action Plan is the culmination of close collaboration with the Women’s Health Taskforce, with colleagues across my Department, the HSE and most importantly, has as its foundations, what women are telling us about their health outcomes and their experiences of our health services.

Significant progress has been made in Women’s Health in recent years which has improved the level and quality of health services available. This includes;

• The expansion of the Free Contraception Scheme, originally introduced in September 2022, to include all women aged between 17 and 31 years.
• Six Regional Fertility Hubs are now operational across the country and are providing access to publicly funded Assisted Human Reproduction treatment.
• Sixteen ‘See and Treat’ Ambulatory Gynaecology Clinics are fully operational with more opening in later this year.
• Six Specialist Menopause Clinics have opened.
• Two Specialist Endometriosis Centres for complex care have been established, along with five regional hubs.
• Five new postnatal hubs are now open, giving women access to postnatal care in community settings.
• A new National Perinatal Genomics Service has been established to ensure women have access to critical testing both during pregnancy, and in planning for future pregnancies.
• 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 later this year.

The new Women’s Health Action Plan seeks to build on this progress and continue to work on new areas with the ultimate aim of improving health outcomes for women in Ireland.