Contraception is currently free for women aged 17 to 35, under measures brought in by the Fianna Fáil minister.
However, there is resistance within the Department of Health for the initiative to be extended to girls aged 16 due to “medical ethics” – given that the age of consent in Ireland is 17.
The minister is understood to be pushing back against the “legally complex” issue, as he believes free contraception should be made available to 16-year-old girls, as the State already provides abortions to girls of that age.
Mr Donnelly has also pointed to the age of medical independence being 16 – meaning that, from that age, children can go by themselves to a GP and do not need parental or guardian consent.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly wants to make contraceptives free for 16-year-olds as part of Budget 2025
This proposal has been criticised by Aontú, with party leader Peadar Tóibín calling the proposal an “incredible development”.
He also said the Minister was “virtue signalling” instead of focusing on “horrendous” waiting lists, overcrowding in emergency departments, adverse incidents in hospitals and ambulance wait times.
“Children are incredibly susceptible to peer pressure,” said Mr Tóibín.
“This peer pressure may well increase for a child, if the state, in a practical sense, is giving licence to under age sexual activity. The state providing contraceptives for a child means the is state is giving licence to the activity.”
He said society has started to take consent “seriously”.
“But shockingly now we have a Fianna Fáil minister saying on one hand that a young person under the age of 17 is not legally old enough to consent to a sexual act but the government will still provide that child with free contraceptives. This is dangerously confusing message for the state to provide to children.”
Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik said she welcomes the proposal to introduce free contraception for 16-year-old girls.
“Any development that is positive for the health of our young people, the health of young women, that’s very, very positive indeed. So I do welcome that,” Ms Bacik said.
However, Ms Bacik said she did not accept the argument that this move would be the state giving license to under age sex.
“I think it’s spurious. I think the reality is, and anyone who knows anything about women’s healthcare knows that the contraceptive pill is prescribed for multiple reasons, including period recognition, menstrual cycle recognition,” the party leader said.
Ms Bacik said questions over the age of consent is a separate issue, but that the critical age for this situation is the age of consent for medical treatment, which is 16.
“I think if a young person can consent to medical intervention at 16, that should include the pill, because, as I say, the pill is used for a whole multitude of reasons,” Ms Bacik said
“I don’t accept the argument that says that it’s necessarily inextricably linked with the age of consent. I think that’s a separate matter.
“And again, lets conduct a review of young people’s sexual health and reproductive health, by all means. But I think this is a separate issue, and it makes sense to ensure that young people at 16 can be prescribed the pill.”
Minister Donnelly also wants to expand publicly funded IVF to more families.
Last year, the Government allocated €10m to a free IVF scheme, but it was criticised for having strict eligibility criteria.
It is understood Mr Donnelly tasked the National Women and Infants Health Programme to look at the eligibility criteria before the initiative was rolled out, and officials from the programme are looking at the criteria once more.
“The criteria are still pretty conservative,” a government source said.
Some of the issues that may be taken into consideration include the age of the applicant, how many cycles of IVF have already been carried out, the applicant’s body mass index (BMI) and the number of children families already have.
There is some reluctance to expand the number of cycles per family, because the number of people coming forward seeking publicly funded IVF is increasing.
Mr Donnelly is also pushing for “significant” extra staffing for new beds in surgical hubs. The existing level of service agreement for the HSE has also already been decided within the Government, it is understood.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Simon Harris has ruled out a two-tier child benefit scheme being introduced in Budget 2025, though he did not rule out such a plan being introduced in the future.
Earlier this month, an ESRI report said 230,000 children experienced material deprivation last year, with parents unable to afford essentials. The figure represented an increase of almost 30,000 on 2022.
Speaking at the first day of the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois, Mr Harris said he was unhappy with child poverty rates in Ireland.
“I certainly don’t rule out the idea of having two rates of child benefit, but I do rule out being able to do it in this budget. I don’t believe it would be even administratively possible to do it in this budget,” he said.
“I do believe there is a roadmap to how you get there, but quite frankly, I’m not going to get ahead of myself and other government ministers.
“Over time, not in this budget, but in the lifetime of another government, could I see a new rate of child benefit paid to children most in need? I think you could.”
He pointed to other payments – such as the working family payment and the qualified child allowance – which could help lift children out of poverty.
The Taoiseach also appeared to take a swipe at his government colleagues who have unveiled measures to be announced in Budget 2025.
“I hear lots of people saying things with great certainly as to what will be in Budget 2025. I’m a member of the Government – I’m the leader of the Government – and the Government hasn’t signed off on any such measures yet,” he said.
“It’s perfectly appropriate for parties to put forward their proposals, absolutely, but the Government hasn’t made any firm decisions yet.”
