LAST UPDATE | 18 Sep
THE MINISTER FOR Health is in ongoing discussions to further expand the free contraception scheme.
As first reported by The Journal in August, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is seeking to include 16-year-old girls in the scheme for the first time as part of this year’s Budget.
Currently the scheme includes women and girls aged 17-35.
The government had previously pledged to expand the scheme to 16 year olds as part of Budget 2023 but this has not yet happened.
The minister said this week that there had already been high take-up of the free contraception scheme for those aged 17-25 but that extending the scheme to 16-year-olds is “more complex”.
According to the minister, healthcare providers had raised “legitimate concerns” during ongoing discussions about expanding the scheme.
“There are some very legitimate concerns that have been raised with me. Some around legal complexities, some around the age of consent being 17, and there are medical ethics and various principles that are used,” Donnelly said.
He explained that standards of medical ethics consider a person to be an adult at age 16, meaning they can consult a doctor without a parent or guardian present.
He added: “I have a pretty simple view on this which is that a young woman at 16 years of age can walk into her GP today and say she’s pregnant and she wants to avail of termination of pregnancy services and they will be provided to her, quite rightly.
“I feel that if we are offering those services to a young woman who is 16, she should also be able to go into her GP and say ‘I’d like to be able to avail of free contraception’.
“It is no more complex than that.”
The proposal to expand the scheme was welcomed by Labour leader Ivana Bacik.
She said it would be a “spurious” argument to suggest that expanding the scheme represented the State giving licence to underage sex.
Bacik added: “The reality is – and anyone who knows anything about women’s healthcare knows – that the contraceptive pill is prescribed for a multiple of period regulation and menstrual cycle regulation.”
Last year, the Irish Family Planning Association, while welcoming the expansion of the free contraception programme, said it was concerned that the extension does not include 16-year-olds.
It said a clear commitment was given by government and funding was allocated to cover this age group within the scheme.
It has urged the government to expand the scheme to 16 year olds “as a matter of priority” and called on the government to resolve the potential legal barriers to their access to free contraception.
Research published in May of this year found that there has been a significant increase in teenagers not using contraception.
Of those surveyed in 2022, 25% of 15 to 17-year-olds reported that they have ever had sex, which remains broadly unchanged from 2018 (25%).
However, of those who reported having had sex, almost half (48%) said that they or their partner used a condom at their last sexual intercourse, which is a decrease of 14% compared to 2018.
Contains reporting from Press Association and Christina Finn
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