IVF should be made available to couples through the public health system, a Fine Gael TD has said.

According to Dublin South Central TD, Catherine Byrne, couples undergoing this type of fertility treatment ‘need support from the State'.

With IVF, a woman's eggs are fertilised with sperm outside the body in a test tube and then placed back inside her womb. Currently in Ireland, IVF is only available on a private basis.

One round of IVF can cost in the region of €5,000, although the patient can avail of tax relief on this expenditure. Drugs used as part of fertility treatment are also covered under the Drugs Payment Scheme, which limits how much an individual or family must pay for approved drugs per calendar month.

Just last year, an international conference on fertility was told that one of the biggest concerns facing people undergoing IVF is the cost of treatment.

"Not alone can it be a heartbreaking and frustrating experience, but it is incredibly expensive. Of course it is so worthwhile when fertility treatment is successful, however we should be doing something to better support people going through the experience," Deputy Byrne commented.

She pointed out that assisted human reproduction (AHR) is covered by the NHS in the UK and said she did not see why it could not also be made available on the public health system here.

"Prospective parents here can offset the cost of private AHR treatment against their income tax liability, and the cost of prescribed AHR medicines is an allowable expense under the Drugs Payment Scheme. However the overall cost of IVF treatment can add up to thousands. Many couples need to try it more than once so it can result in huge financial strain," she noted.

Deputy Byrne said she would be raising this issue with the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, at the next Oireachtas Health Committee meeting.

A move to publically fund IVF ‘would at least ease the financial burden' on couples who have to go down this road, she added.