Documentation for review of access criteria for funded IVF (FOI)

​Request 703946031

​Further to an Assembly decision to invest additional monies in IVF, new access criteria for funded IVF came into force on 1 January 2025. 

The Health Minister committed to reviewing those criteria at end of Q1 2025 to determine whether they had struck the necessary balance between enabling access and managing demand. The results of that review were to be made available by 1 April 2025.

Please provide documentation of that review and its results.

Response

At the end of March, the Minister for Health and Social Services reviewed uptake of funded IVF treatment under the access criteria that came into force on 01 January 2025. To date, around 20 IVF cycles are being funded under the new access criteria, which aligns with the anticipated total of 80 funded IVF cycles per year. This suggests that the criteria align with current available funds and so, at this stage, the Minister will not be amending the criteria. 

The Minister will undertake a further review towards the end of 2025 when more data is available and may amend the criteria at that point, if required.