The Government has made an announcement detailing the fertility services that will be publicly funded from September.
Eligible patients will be entitled to one full cycle of IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) or ICSI (Intracytoplasmic sperm injection) treatment which will be initially provided in HSE-approved private clinics of their choice.
To be eligible for publicly funded treatment, couples must be resident in Ireland and be referred to a Regional Fertility Hub through their GP.
They must be in a relationship for at least one year and have no children from this relationship.
Patients with known clinical causes of infertility and patients where there is no known clinical cause will be eligible for treatment.
Women up to the age of 40 and men up to the age of 59 will be considered eligible.
Laois TD Sean Fleming welcomed the news.
He said: “Fianna Fáil’s commitment to introduce a publicly funded model of care for fertility treatment is soon to become a reality for the thousands of couples experiencing infertility.
“I am glad to say it is now finally being delivered by Fianna Fáíl Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly.
“It represents a transformative step where the dream of parenthood becomes a reality for every aspiring parent, irrespective of their financial status.
“Work is continuing on the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill which will allow Government to improve accessibility to Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) treatments.
“I look forward to this Bill progressing and ultimately seeing AHR services being expanded to wider categories so that we can help more people to fulfil their wish of starting a family.”
SEE ALSO – Laois County Council called upon to act to clean up ‘dirtiest river in Ireland’
