Almost 200,000 women availed of ‘free’ contraception, paid for by the State, in the first 10 months of last year.

A 2019 Working Group on Access to Contraception, under the then Health Minister, Simon Harris, said the proposal would probably be a waste of public funds.

The State scheme is available for women aged 17-31 and, Health Minister Stephen Donnell said that latest figures show over 198,000 women availed of it between January and October last.

He also reported that 17 of 19 maternity hospitals are providing abortion.

He said the final two maternity hospitals, Cavan General Hospital and South Tipperary General Hospital, are expected to provide abortion by the year’s end.

The total number of abortions carried out in the State is expected to exceed 10,000 for last year, having numbered 8,156 in 2022. There were 4,577 in 2021, although the numbers that year were affected by the pandemic.