Doctors in Ireland are receiving an average of €21,029 extra per year in taxpayers’ money for providing abortions, according to new data from the Irish Parliament.
Based on responses to Parliamentary Questions submitted by Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins, it has been revealed that doctors who were reimbursed for abortion consultations received an average of almost €430,000 per month of taxpayers’ money for abortion consultations from January to May 2025. Since an average of 245 doctors consulted on abortions each month, this would mean that, according to the new data from Parliament, each doctor would receive €21,029 on average per year for their role in facilitating abortions.
Dr Dermot Kearney, an Irish cardiologist, responded by calling the situation “a national disgrace”, whilst Eilís Mulroy, spokesperson of Pro Life Campaign, said “Many people will find it unseemly that abortion has become such a profitable activity, particularly given it’s subsidised by our taxes”.
“Many people in Ireland are making ends meet on an annual salary” of less than €21,029, she continued, whereas some doctors could receive this “as a top up on their regular income just for offering abortion pills. If there are negative consequences for the woman, the doctor simply refers them to a hospital”.
Criticism for “money that’s being poured into the Irish abortion regime”
Mulroy reserved specific criticism for telemedicine home abortions, which were introduced during the pandemic “to allow for remote consultation”.
She said “With the advent of telemedicine, a GP doesn’t even have to have an in-person consultation with the woman. Instead, they can have a short phone call with the woman, make basic provisions for her to collect the mifepristone and misoprostol pills, and claim for €450”.
“All the money that’s being poured into the Irish abortion regime, which racks up tens of millions of euro[s], would be better served providing women in unplanned pregnancies with genuine supports”.
“Well in excess of €50 million in taxpayers’ money has been spent on abortion provision in Ireland since the new law took effect in January 2019”, Mulroy said.
The news comes a month after abortion statistics released by the Department of Health in Ireland showed there were a record 10,852 abortions in Ireland in 2024, a 62.8% increase since 2019, when the abortion legislation introducing abortion on demand in Ireland came into effect, and 6,666 abortions took place.
The figures revealed an increase of 8.16% from 2023, when there were 10,033 abortions.
There have been a total of 48,984 abortions in Ireland from the start of 2019 to the end of 2024, according to data from the Department of Health in Ireland.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “It is terrible that so many Irish doctors are receiving such large sums of money for their role in facilitating abortions”.
“The fact that some doctors are receiving tens of thousands of euros each for offering abortion consultations will likely encourage other doctors to follow a similar, lucrative path”.
“Pregnant women, and their children – born and unborn – deserve support, care, and compassion, not doctors making large amounts of money off ending the lives of unborn children”.
