Referrals open today for State funded fertility treatment
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Referrals are open from today for state-funded fertility treatment, the first such programme in Ireland, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said.
Under the scheme, eligible women can receive treatment through approved private fertility clinics with the cost covered by the State.
Women and their partners can be referred by GPs to one of six HSE regional fertility hubs including one each in Cork and Nenagh. Following assessment and possibly low-intervention treatment, the hubs can now refer eligible women to a private centre.
The current scheme gives access to one full cycle of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment, provided at a clinic of their choice.
“For certain cohorts of patients, up to three episodes of intrauterine insemination (IUI) can be made available,” the Department of Health said on Monday.
Funding of €31m was provided in Budget 2022 and over €69m in Budget 2023 for women’s health services, including developing the six regional hubs.
The hubs are already in operation, offering low-level intervention and testing to patients referred in by GPs.
Mr Donnelly said this is an “important step” on the road to full publicly-funded treatment.
“I appreciate the challenges faced by people who wish to start a family but are unable to do so without clinical assistance.
The first public national assisted human reproduction (AHR) Centre is scheduled to open next year, he said. The public service does not yet include treatments involving the use of donated gametes (sperm and eggs) for heterosexual or same-sex couples or single female patients.
The HSE has said: “If you need donor eggs or sperm you cannot get this treatment through the HSE. But it will become available in the future. This will happen when laws that are needed are in place.”
The Assisted Human Reproduction Bill is the legislation required, and Mr Donnelly said work is ongoing for this, which will “improve access to AHR treatments and embed safe and appropriate clinical practice”.
The six hubs include clinics in Cork University Maternity Hospital, Nenagh General Hospital as part of Limerick University Maternity Hospital, and Galway University Hospital.
The three standalone maternity hospitals in Dublin also host hubs.
A tender process saw eight private clinics and their satellite clinics receive approval to join the scheme such as the Waterstone Clinic including their Cork site, SIMS IVF including Cork and Limerick, Beacon Care Fertility with a clinic in Limerick, as well as First IVF, Merrion Fertility Clinic, ReproMed, and Therapie Fertility including the Limerick clinic.
Publicly-funded AHR is not means tested, and providing details about income will not be required to avail of the service, the Department said.
More information on the HSE’s fertility treatment website.