150,000 women use free birth control this year

AT least 150,000 women have used the State’s free contraception scheme this year, new figures reveal.

The scheme was introduced by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in September 2022, and was initially for 17 to 25-year-olds.

It was expanded to include 26year-olds in January this year and then women aged up to 30 in September. The scheme will be further extended in January to include women up to the age of 31.

Figures obtained by the Irish Mail on Sunday confirm 150,000 women from 17-26 accessed the scheme between January and the end of August, with demand highest in the 18-21 age group.

The scheme provides an end-toend contraception service and covers the cost of consultations, prescriptions and long acting reversible contraception (LARC).

These include the pill, injections, implants, copper coils, the patch, contraceptive ring and morning after pill. More than 2,000 pharmacies and 2,400 GPs have signed up to the scheme.

Minister Donnelly is expected to announce the figures for the first time today and will say that the numbers show a clear demand for a service that prioritises quality and eliminates cost for women.

He will say he is ‘delighted to see such high uptake among eligible age groups, and pleased that we will soon be expanding the scheme further to include women aged 31’. He will also say the figures ‘provide clear evidence of the success of a service that is helping to reduce crisis pregnancy and termination of pregnancy rates, as part of a suite of sexual health services which are responding to expanding population needs.’

Speaking to the MoS in April last year, the Health Minister pledged to introduce the scheme as part of a range of measures to improve women’s healthcare.