Health (Provision of Contraception Prescribing Service in Retail Pharmacy Businesses) Bill 2026: Committee and Remaining Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Pádraig Rice (SD), Cork South-Central

I welcome the Bill. We spend a lot of time inside these Houses talking about other parts of reproductive healthcare and not enough about contraception, so it is really welcome that we are having a focus and discussion on it and are moving forward with changes.
On the point in relation to the eligibility piece, it is important that we expand eligibility as much as possible, and at the older age groups as well. In a reply to a parliamentary question last month, the Minister said that expanding access for 36- for 40-year-olds only costs €5 million per year and that is something that should be considered in terms of increasing the age group upwards as well. The National Women's Council report found that 31% of women experienced barriers in accessing free contraception and age limit was one of the most cited barriers there as well. It is certainly something that should be considered. It is not a huge amount of money. It would increase access and we need to expand the eligibility more broadly.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15