Press release
Third Annual Report on Notifications in accordance with the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
The third Annual Report on the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas as required under section 20 of the Act. The report covers the period from 1 January 2021 until 31 December 2021.
In introducing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, the government acted on the instruction of the Irish people. It was - and is - a priority for the government to have a medically delivered, safe and regulated service for the termination of pregnancy in place.
The Annual Report shows that in total 4,577 medical procedures carried out under the Act in 2021 were notified to the Minister.
The overall notifications reported under section 20 for 2021 are substantially lower than observed in the first two annual reports. In the preparation of the 2021 Annual Report, the department identified the lower number of notifications received compared to previous years. In response, the department engaged with the HSE to assess the level of confidence in overall notification numbers. Figures received from the HSE indicate that approximately 6,700 termination of pregnancy second consultation claims for reimbursement were made under the Primary Care Reimbursement Scheme (PCRS).
Following these engagements, it is reasonable to conclude, based on the information available, that the number of terminations of pregnancy notified to the Minister is substantially lower than the number of terminations carried out in 2021. The Minister has a statutory obligation to report the figures notified to him. This obligation has been fulfilled. However, in the interests of openness and transparency, the Minister wishes to highlight this matter alongside the publication of the 2021 Report. A supplementary note has been published alongside the Annual Report with more detail.
It is fully acknowledged that 2021 was an enormously challenging year for our healthcare services, not least in general practice, including dealing with the incredible challenge posed by wave 3 of COVID-19, the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine as a priority public health intervention, the management of the lasting impacts of COVID-19 and the system wide impacts resulting from the cyber attack in May 2021. Notwithstanding this, all medical practitioners who carried out terminations of pregnancy in 2021, are requested to review their records and paperwork as a matter of priority and submit any outstanding notifications to me in line with the normal process.
The HSE has also submitted a report, as required under section 18 of the Act, on Reviews carried out in 2020. This report has also been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The HSE report shows that 1 application for review was made to the Executive in 2020. The review committee found that this application met with the requirements for a lawful termination under the Act.
Having observed the lower number of notifications for 2021 in the preparation of the Annual Report, the department took a number of actions to assess the level of confidence in the notification numbers and took action to respond to the issue:
The department will continue to engage with the HSE, with a view to: