The Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has announced plans for State funding of IVF and other fertility treatments.

According to The Irish Times, the Minister stated his intention to provide funding for such treatments together with legislation to regulate this area of medical practice.

“The ability to conceive a child naturally is a normal human expectation and a diagnosis of infertility can be a source of emotional distress, physical discomfort and financial hardship,” Mr Varadkar said.

Under current arrangements in Ireland, couples seeking fertility treatment do so via private medical facilities, with costs as high as €4,500 per course. The Government reflects this in tax reliefs for certain medical expenses incurred, but this has not been enough to discourage an element of ‘fertility tourism’, with some couples opting to travel to the Czech Republic, where treatments range between €2,000 and €2,500 per round of IVF.

In February 2015, the Government gave the go-ahead for the drafting of legislation on the issue of assisted human reproduction, and this has now led to a Department of Health-commissioned review of public funding for fertility in other countries, which Minister Varadkar said will inform policy in Ireland. Any new legislation, he added would also seek to regulate sperm and egg sales as well as surrogacy.

However, the Minister did not offer any information as to how Ireland’s 2015 adoption of same-sex marriage might play into the area of funded fertility treatments. While citing the ability to conceive a child naturally in unveiling his plans, the Minister also stated that any funding of fertility treatment should ensure “equity of access as well”, but did not elucidate on this further.