Donnelly: Abortion services review will be brought to Cabinet 'in the coming weeks'

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly "would encourage all GPs to look at providing these [abortion] services. File picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he plans to bring the review of the country's abortion services to Cabinet "in the coming weeks" and publish it thereafter.

Mr Donnelly described the review as "very good work" and "very useful" and said he had met with its author on Tuesday morning. Once the review is published, Mr Donnelly said he intends to get the Oireachtas Health Committee's view on its contents. 

More than 8,500 women availed of termination of pregnancy services in Ireland in 2022, the vast majority of whom had their needs met in primary care, Mr Donnelly said.

On Monday, Dr Deirdre Duffy of Lancaster University in the UK, one of the researchers appointed by the Government to undertake the review, said that elements of Ireland's abortion services system were "not sustainable" in their current form, and were on the brink of collapse.

According to the HSE, fewer than one in 10 GPs are currently providing abortion services. 

As part of their work, Dr Duffy and her team spoke with healthcare providers across the country, including GPs, to establish why many were not providing the services.

She said their research identified issues around guidance, conscientious objection, the availability of services around the country, and the availability of staff and facilities in the country's hospitals.

Dr Duffy told the Irish Times that the system in its current form amounted to "a postcode lottery". Asked to respond to Dr Duffy's assessment, Mr Donnelly said she was "not correct at all."

He said:

We have over 420 GPs now providing services. That's up by about 50% in the last few years. And I would encourage all GPs to look at providing these services.

Mr Donnelly told RTÉ Radio that the review would outline "the parts of the service that are working, the parts of the service where access for women is not where it needs to be, and the parts of the service where supports for clinicians can get better".

Once the review is published, Mr Donnelly said he and his department would go "systematically through it to improve the service".