The Green Party has made major investments in women's health over the past few years in Government – we introduced free contraception, funding for fertility clinics, and published an action plan for women's health and the Women’s Health Taskforce.
We’ve made progress on period poverty, improved breastfeeding rates, and funded women’s health clinics.
In the last Budget, it was announced that my party would make Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) free for all women who require it in 2025, a potential saving of up to 840 euro a year.
Thanks to our efforts, free contraception has now been rolled out for women of 17 up to the age of 35, while the expansion of access to free IVF comes following previous funding for regional fertility hubs spearheaded by the Green Party.
If returned to the Dáil, myself and my colleagues aim to continue to work for women by:
• Introducing free bi-annual gynaecological appointments for women aged 16-40.
• Access to Reproductive Healthcare for pregnancy loss in all its forms for up to 20 days.
• Supporting the recommendations of the World Breastfeeding Trends Initiative. We will run an information campaign on accessing supports for breastfeeding and restrict advertising of breastmilk substitutes. We will fully implement the WHO Code of Marketing of Breastmilk substitutes and increase the number of lactation consultants and midwives.
• Expanding and resourcing the milk bank service across the island, in cooperation with the NHS.
• Supplying free breast pumps to mothers of sick or preterm babies discharged from hospital to help them maintain breastfeeding.
• Appointing a national clinical lead for FGM treatment services in primary care to provide guidance and support for appropriate service expansion around the country.
• Continue to work to ensure that geographic location is not a barrier to reproductive healthcare and that termination of pregnancy services are widely available across every county in both hospital and general practice settings.
• To work with employers to support women experiencing the menopause, with the aim of incentivising menopause-friendly policies and developing a certification system for menopause-friendly employers.
• Continuing the expansion of the free contraception scheme.
• Working to end period poverty by providing free access to menstrual products in schools, workplaces, and communities.
• Delivering and renewing the National Maternity Strategy.
• Increasing access to perinatal mental health supports, including a mother and baby unit for mental health.
• Expanding publicly funded reproductive assistance by increasing funding for IVF and other supports.
I will continue to work for local women’s health supports in Carlow-Kilkenny, including backing a Women’s Refuge for Carlow and better funding for the Amber Women’s Refuge in Kilkenny.
Read more on my record as Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform, and TD for Carlow-Kilkenny and my future plans here.
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