Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
27. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether her Department applies a formal classification system to distinguish between direct, indirect, and ancillary services in relation to abortion within overseas aid programmes; if so, to provide details of that classification system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32358/26]
View answer28. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether any portion of funding provided under sexual and reproductive health programmes is used for services related to abortion, including post-abortion care or treatment of complications arising from abortion; if so, to provide a breakdown by programme type and recipient organisation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32359/26]
View answer35. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether her Department has received any assurance from UNFPA, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, or other recipient organisations that Irish taxpayer funding is not used to provide or promote abortion as a method of family planning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32368/26]
View answer37. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether any Irish Official Development Assistance funding since 2019 has been provided to organisations that also provide abortion services, abortion-related advocacy, or abortion-related policy support internationally; if so, to provide the names of those organisations and the amounts provided by year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32370/26]
View answer39. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade whether her Department distinguishes in its overseas aid reporting between funding for post-abortion medical care and funding for the provision of abortion services; if so, to provide the definitions used; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32372/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 27, 28, 35, 37 and 39 together.
The Government's policy for international development, A Better World, recognises sexual and reproductive health and rights as fundamental to women's health and essential for gender equality.
Details of Ireland’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) are published in Department's ODA Annual Report.
Information on the amounts provided for sexual and reproductive health and rights, for the period 2019 to 2024, is provided in the table below. Confirmed data for 2025 will be available in the coming months.
In the management and oversight of ODA, we report on our support for essential health and reproductive health care. Reporting on funding for reproductive health care is line with OECD purpose codes, specifically ‘Population policies, programmes and reproductive health’, defined as the ‘promotion of reproductive health; prenatal and postnatal care including delivery; prevention and treatment of infertility; prevention and management of consequences of abortion; and safe motherhood activities’. Donors are not required to apply a further classification system.
Health care and service providers supported with ODA are required to adhere to relevant national laws and regulations, and WHO standards and guidelines for care, including with regard to termination of pregnancy care. Annual monitoring and due diligence checks by Ireland, as well as robust audits and institutional capacity assessments, provide the necessary assurances that partners operate within all relevant legal and technical frameworks.
Ireland’s ODA for sexual and reproductive health prioritises measures to secure better health outcomes for women, new-born children, and marginalised groups. The promotion or provision of abortion is not a central element of Ireland’s development cooperation engagements, and no funding is earmarked for this purpose. Furthermore, and in line with WHO norms, Ireland does not promote abortion as a method of family planning. We place a particular emphasis on measures such as contraception and education to prevent unintended pregnancies, including for girls and adolescent women, including in humanitarian settings. This helps in the achievement of better health outcomes for children, and the reduction of maternal mortality, unsafe abortion, and the incidence of obstetric fistula.
ODA provision for sexual and reproductive health, 2019 to 2024:
|
Recipient |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
2023 |
2024 |
|
Aidspan |
100,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Amref Health, Africa |
1,140,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
APCOM Hero Awards, Thailand |
|
|
|
|
|
6,000 |
|
Associascao Focus Fistula, Mozambique |
|
|
|
25,000 |
150,000 |
150,000 |
|
Associacao TV Surdo, Mozambique |
|
|
|
|
|
25,000 |
|
Brighter Communities Worldwide, Kenya |
24,710 |
24,710 |
21,846 |
25,063 |
22,487 |
|
|
Campaña Global por la Libertad de Expresión,México |
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Care Love Charity Foundation, Ghana |
|
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
Chanasa Malawi Trustee for Development |
|
|
5,000 |
|
|
|
|
Christian Blind Mission |
|
|
|
|
11,997 |
|
|
Clinton Foundation Health Access Initative |
1,220,000 |
1,665,000 |
300,000 |
|
|
|
|
Comprehensive Community Based Rehab, Tanzania |
|
|
|
|
550,000 |
|
|
Duyan Project (Brighter Homes), Philippines |
|
|
|
|
15,258 |
|
|
Frontline AIDS |
|
150,000 |
150,000 |
300,000 |
300,000 |
300,000 |
|
Girl Child Network |
3,920 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria |
6,250,000 |
7,500,000 |
7,500,000 |
8,750,000 |
10,875,000 |
10,750,000 |
|
Health Poverty Action |
90,000 |
81,900 |
38,000 |
71,015 |
64,641 |
|
|
HERA right to development, Macedonia |
24,989 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
International Partnership for Microbicides |
1,250,000 |
1,250,000 |
1,250,000 |
1,000,000 |
|
|
|
International Planned Parenthood Federation |
|
|
|
300,000 |
1,000,000 |
1,000,000 |
|
Irish Global Health Network & ESTHER Ireland |
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Jamacia, AIDS Support for Life |
|
|
|
|
|
26,949 |
|
Karonga Debate Club, Malawi |
|
|
|
|
|
6,037 |
|
Kota Bandung, Indonesia |
|
|
|
|
|
15,000 |
|
Mae Tao Clinic, Thailand |
|
19,143 |
6,559 |
16,802 |
5,000 |
|
|
Maternal & Childhealth Advocacy International |
100,000 |
|
198,202 |
|
|
|
|
Medici Con L'Africa, Doctors with Africa, Uganda |
|
21,319 |
800,000 |
1,000,000 |
1,000,000 |
900,000 |
|
Misean Cara |
1,103,687 |
1,254,848 |
1,010,320 |
1,132,665 |
1,069,429 |
789,351 |
|
National Forum for People Living with HIV, Uganda |
|
|
|
200,000 |
|
|
|
Nurture Africa |
90,500 |
90,500 |
90,500 |
91,000 |
107,600 |
99,600 |
|
Penabulu Foundation, Indonesia |
|
|
|
15,000 |
|
|
|
Save The Children |
|
526,499 |
|
|
|
|
|
Straight Talk Foundation, Uganda |
1,300,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Population Council, Inc |
|
|
|
|
500,000 |
500,000 |
|
UCC Dept Food Business & Development |
8,333 |
|
|
|
9,722 |
2,941 |
|
Uganda AIDS commission |
4,191 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNAIDS |
2,950,000 |
2,400,000 |
3,400,000 |
2,500,000 |
2,500,000 |
2,500,000 |
|
UNDP |
2,450,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNESCO |
500,000 |
500,000 |
|
500,000 |
1,500,000 |
500,000 |
|
UNFPA (updated) |
5,500,000 |
5,549,500 |
6,490,442 |
9,915,708 |
10,255,600 |
13,100,000 |
|
World Health Organisation |
|
|
|
|
|
1,000,000 |
|
Yayasan Rumah Rachel / Rachel House, Indonesia |
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
Grand Total, as of 30 April, 2026 |
24,110,330 |
21,058,419 |
21,260,869 |
25,842,252 |
29,946,734 |
31,670,878 |
