The Government is likely to support plans to introduce free Hormone Replacement Therapy for women going through the menopause.

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is a medicine-based treatment prescribed to relieve symptoms of menopause.

Prescriptions can cost anywhere between €30 and €70 per month and in recent years, many women have struggled to access the correct treatments due to shortages in supply.

Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly is tabling a motion in the Seanad calling on the Government to support women going through menopause – and provide HRT free of charge to anyone who needs it.

A woman applies an oestrogen patch. Image: Phanie / Alamy Stock Photo

On Breakfast Briefing this morning, Senator O’Reilly said her motion has wide support.

“I think there is a budget there [for this and] I believe it should be done,” she said.

“Part of our job, I suppose, as politicians is to point this out so that people can get behind it.

“I know that it went to Cabinet yesterday and I'm expecting that the Government is not going to oppose it, so it'll now be a case of trying to push this further.

“I know, having spoken to other women in the Shannon, they absolutely agree and we do have a lot of women senators so let's hope that this can be a continuation of a journey towards free HRT for every woman.”

Cost

She said organisations like Irish Menopause have warned that cost is a factor that is putting women off accessing HRT.

“You know, they’re kind of putting it off and saying something else is much more important,” she said.

“We know that the cost-of-living challenge and crisis does impact women much more than it does men because of the cost of things like for instance, contraception, period products and all of these things.

“There have been moves already over the last couple of years since we've been in Government in order to address some of that and HRT, I think, is one now that we really have to focus on.”

She said the plan would cost the State somewhere around €10 million per year.

Menopause

Senator O’Reilly said it is time more women began speaking up about their menopause symptoms.

“Probably, as a nation, we just kind of say, let's just suck it up, whatever's going on for us and get on with things,” she said.

“So yeah, I think it’s about time we started talking about it.

“We can all probably recognise people in our lives that have gone through a difficult period and then afterwards looked back and said, ‘Oh, you know what that was, it was actually the menopause and I came out the other side.’

“But why go through all of that when there's treatments available and the treatments then in fact help everybody in your life because it has an impact on all of those people around you.”

Senator O’Reilly’s motion is supported by her Green Party colleagues in the Seanad.