Holly Cairns
Question:15. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the steps he is taking ensure that hormone replacement therapy medication is available without charge for persons going through menopause. [26394/23]
View answerThursday, 1 June 2023
Questions (15)
Written answers
Supporting women before, during and after menopause is a priority for me. This includes providing improved information, awareness, and treatment.
The National Menopause Awareness campaign launched in October 2022, includes a dedicated webpage (Gov.ie/menopause) as a one-stop shop to provide trusted information for anyone affected by menopause in Ireland.
Other initiatives include the development of six specialist menopause clinics to treat complex symptoms of menopause.
Five of the six planned clinics are currently open and operational at hospital sites around Ireland.
In relation to costs, the onus is on a company to apply to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to have a medicine made reimbursable under the public schemes.
Many HRT medications are currently reimbursable by the HSE under the community drug schemes.
These are available to medical card holders, subject to payment of the statutory prescription charge.
They are also available under the Drug Payment Scheme (DPS), which ensures that no individual pays more than €80 a month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines.
The DPS is not means tested and is available to anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland.
While there are no current plans to make the provision of HRT medications free of charge, the removal of VAT from non-oral forms of HRT since 1 January 2023 has also improved access to HRT for women across the country.
Question No. 16 answered orally.