Figures issued by the Department of Health show that 8,156 terminations of pregnancy were carried out in 2022 under 2018 legislation.

The figures are contained in the latest annual report on the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.

The legislation was introduced after a referendum in May 2018 that approved the repeal of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. A review of the operation of the act was published last year.

Increase

The report shows that:

• 22 procedures were carried out due to a risk to life or health under the grounds set out in section 9 of the act,
• Four procedures were due to a risk to life or health in an emergency situation under section 10.
• 88 were due to a fatal foetal anomaly under section 11, and
• 8,042 were in early pregnancy under the grounds set out in section 12 of the act.

The total recorded in 2022 represents a big increase on the 2021 figure, but the Department of Health had said that COVID-19 and the cyber-attack on the health service might have affected that year’s figures.

A separate HSE report shows that two applications for reviews were made to it last year.

One of the applications was found to have met the requirements for a lawful termination of pregnancy, and one did not meet the requirements.