Outrage that Irish Family Planning Assoc has to suspend services to medical card holders

9 October 2008

by Cllr Joe Costello

Speaking on his adjournment motion today, Deputy Joe Costello stated that, "It is an outrage that the IFPA have had to suspend their family planning services to medical card holders because the Minister's Department has failed to ensure that the Health Service Authority provided adequate funding to run the service. Thus there will be no family planning service available for the last three months of this year. That is a disgrace.

"No increase in the annual HSE allocation of €290,000 has been granted over the last two years while 78,000 more people had medical cards at the start of 2008 compared to 12 months earlier. Already the IFPA is over budget by €60,000 in trying to meet the increase.

"As the IFPA is a not-for-profit charity any overspend on its annual allocation must be borne by the IFPA not the HSE and it is a catch 22 situation.

"The IFPA provides family services to the most vulnerable groups in Irish society - young people, the unemployed, people with a disability, minority and ethnic women, single parents and those on low incomes. Their services are essential in reducing unwanted and unplanned pregnancies and in providing women with family planning and primary health care.

"These services are provided on a national basis and their suspension will result in many women being unable to access contraceptive services and advice in particular over the next three months.

"Cost effective analyses indicate that for every euro spent on providing family planning services more than four euro is saved in maternity costs alone. The experience of the IFPA is typical of the dysfunctional way this Government goes about its business. It makes a Cabinet decision to increase the number of medical and GP cards. But it expects the service providers to operate with the same budget and same staff numbers.

"The budget increase must reflect the rising cost of providing comprehensive family planning services, the increase in the number of medical card holders and the increase in annual inflation rates. Finally, the HSE must increase the IFPA's medical card budget immediately in order to provide necessary care for women and young people with medical cards. "