Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 October 2024
176. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health to detail any action outstanding in the women’s health action plan; and the cost associated with implementation of all outstanding actions, in tabular form. [43303/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraSignificant progress and investment have been made in the area of women’s health in recent years. Underscoring this Government’s commitment to women’s health has been the investment of dedicated additional funding of over €180 million since 2020. €38 million of this has been allocated in Budget 2025 specifically for women’s health initiatives.
The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 was published in March 2022, marking International Women’s Day. The Action Plan identified key actions to improve health outcomes and experiences for women in Ireland. It provided the foundation to address women’s health as a whole and helped to ensure that women’s health is viewed beyond reproductive health in order to make a real difference to women’s lives. See Appendix 1 (page 42) for key achievements under this plan.
My Department are finalising a progress report for the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 to be published by the end of 2024.
Building on the success of that plan, the Women’s Health Action Plan 2024-2025 Phase 2: An Evolution in Women’s Health was published in April 2024. The previous plan was seen as “a good start” in terms of a revolution in women’s healthcare. This new Action Plan is very much an evolution as it builds on initiatives proven to have had a positive impact on women’s health and wellbeing. Work on the implementation of the Women’s Health Action Plan 2024-2025 continues with some actions already achieved less than six months into its two-year lifespan, the expansion of the Free Contraception Scheme to include women up to 35 years of age being an example of this.
€12.9 million for 2025 has been specifically allocated to enable the continued implementation of the Women’s Health Action Plan 2024-2025.
Some of the actions supported by this funding includes:
• Increasing capacity of our endometriosis services and the role out of the new model of care for women with Endometriosis.
• Support for the first public National Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) Centre to provide publicly funded publicly delivered AHR treatment.
• Expansion of screening services including Breast-Check.
• Expansion of Diabetic Retina Screening services.
• Increase in the operating hours of specialist menopause clinics.
• Improved coordination of Termination of Pregnancy services across all maternity sites.
• Additional Ambulatory Gynaecology Clinic.
• 4 more postnatal hubs. (Budget 2025 will also enable four additional hubs to establish a network of 13 in 2025.)
• Full year cost support for the Free Contraception Scheme, the expansion to 35 years.
• Full costs of the National Venous Thromboembolism Programme which focuses on pregnant women and women experiencing menopause.
• An expansion of the provision of scalp cooling for cancer patients to help prevent hair loss due to chemotherapy
In addition to this €12.9 million, I, as Minister for Health, have also secured an additional:
• €2m for the National Maternity Strategy,
• €2m for post mastectomy products
• €0.9m for breastfeeding projects
• €20m for the provision of State-funded HRT to women experiencing symptoms of menopause.
This Government is committed to Progressing and Promoting Women’s Health. The new Women's Health Action Plan seeks to build on this progress and continue to work on new areas with the ultimate aim of improving health outcomes for women in Ireland.
