Free Hormone Replacement Therapy could help keep women in the workforce, one expert has predicted. 

The treatment is used to help relieve the symptoms of the menopause – including hot flushes, night sweats or mood swings.

The medication previously cost up to €70 a month - or €840 every year - but in Budget 2025, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe announced it would be made free as part of a €35 million women's healthcare package. 

A prescriptions counter at a Boots pharmacy. Picture by: Alamy.com

In a statement, the Menopause Hub CEO Loretta Dignam said the policy could be a gamechanger for many women.

“The measure, in Menopause Awareness Month, sends out a message of support to all those women and will hopefully help stop the menopause drain of skilled and valued women who feel they have to leave their jobs because of those symptoms,” she said. 

"Free HRT will also relieve the economic burden for women, most of whom have been paying for monthly products since they hit puberty.  

“At last, they can now improve their daily lives without worrying about how they can afford between €30 and €70 a month."

IVF treatment

The Budget also expanded the provision of free IVF for those experiencing fertility problems; the scheme was introduced last year and 1,200 couples have taken advantage of it since then. 

From now on, couples using donor-assisted IVF will be eligible to use the scheme and so will those who already have one child together. 

According to the CSO, there were 13,482 births recorded in Ireland in the first quarter of 2024.

Main image: Stressed woman at desk. Image: Kateryna Onyshchuk / Alamy Stock Photo