Local Fianna Fáil TD, Jackie Cahill, is welcoming the details of the new State funded scheme to support treatment for fertility issues.
Eligible patients will be entitled to one full cycle of IVF or ICSI treatment, initially provided in HSE-approved private clinics of their choice ahead of the opening next year of the first public National Advanced AHR (Assisted Human Reproduction) Centre.
To be eligible for publicly funded treatment, couples must be resident in Ireland and referred to a Regional Fertility Hub through their GP.
They must be in a relationship for at least one year, and have no children from this relationship.
Patients with known clinical causes of infertility and patients where there is no known clinical cause will be eligible for treatment.
Women up to the age of 40 and men up to the age of 59 will be considered eligible.
In Ireland, as many as one in six couples will experience fertility issues affecting both men and women equally
Deputy Cahill says the Government’s commitment to introduce a publicly funded model of care for fertility treatment is soon to become a reality for the thousands of couples experiencing infertility.