Making contraception free for all women would cost the State between €80 million to €100 million per year.
Health Minister Simon Harris previously made a commitment to make it free by 2021.
A working group has suggested three approaches.:
- Bring in free contraception for all women.
- Funding the consultation and insertion of long-acting reversible contraceptives, which would cost between €30 million to €40 million per year.
- Focus on women aged 17 to 24, who are considered more likely to be unable to afford birth control. This would cost €18 million to €22 million per year
The report concludes the notion that there is a widespread affordability problem across the population in terms of accessing birth control remains unproven.
