Free contraception for women will be available from 2021, Minister for Health Simon Harris has told the Dáil. The move comes despite there being no conclusive evidence that ever more freely available contraception reduces unplanned pregnancies in the general population.
The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution on abortion recommended the provision of free contraception and Mr Harris established the working group to examine policy, legislative and regulatory issues on access to contraception.
Mr Harris said significant progress had also been made on providing ‘free’ male contraception. “We have very significantly increased the amount of condoms being distributed. We are putting vending machines into a number of locations throughout the country and our sexual health strategy very much aligns with this, not only in terms of reducing crisis pregnancy but in terms of reducing STIs (sexually transmitted infections) which are at a worrying level in our country.”
He said legislation would be necessary and there were regulatory and policy issues that had to be dealt with “when it comes to the female side of contraception”.
