The Crisis Pregnancy Agency was established on 2 October 2001, under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961. The agency is a planning and co-ordinating body, rather than a provider of services. The task of the agency is to draw up a national strategy to address crisis pregnancy and to oversee its implementation, in consultation with Government and other non-statutory agencies. The agency became fully operational in 2002, however, as the agency is not a service provider, it will not be providing a service directly to the public.
The prevention of crisis pregnancy in the first instance is a primary goal of the agency. Preventative issues concerning the education of young adults, as well as services appropriate to their needs and lifestyles will be addressed. The agency will work to develop strategies to make women more aware of their options, should they have a crisis pregnancy, and to improve the supports and assistance available to women in this situation, so that they will feel that they will have genuine alternatives to abortion. Women who have had an abortion, either recently or some time ago, have particular needs also and this is another area which the agency has been asked to address. The agency will work towards ensuring quality services are developed, where women are treated with compassion and understanding and that both their emotional and physical health needs are attended to.
I appointed Ms Olive Braiden as chairperson on 3 October 2001. Eight board members were subsequently appointed. The board meets on a monthly basis and also works through a number of sub-groups. A director and two senior managers – administration and programmes and communications – were recruited in May 2002. A research officer, health promotion and education officer and an administration officer as well as administrative support staff are also in place. To complete the agency's staff complement a second research officer will be recruited in 2003.
The statutory instrument under which the agency was created provided for the establishment of a 20-person consultative committee which would provide expert advice to the board of the agency. This committee was established in November 2002 under the chair of Dr. Linda Hogan and has various statutory and non-statutory organisations represented on it.
A strategic framework, which will identify the various strands of the strategy to address crisis pregnancy in Ireland, is currently being drafted. Work will then commence on the development of the agency's strategy to address crisis pregnancy with a view to having it completed by the end of the year. It is hoped to incorporate an action plan for the coming years in the strategy. This will provide the agency with a framework to implement its strategy in a planned and structured manner. This will form a key part of the agency's work in 2003.