The Minister for Health is seeking to expand free contraception to 16-year-old girls.
However, Stephen Donnelly said healthcare providers had raised “legitimate concerns” during ongoing discussions about expanding the scheme.
Mr Donnelly said there had already been high take-up of the free contraception scheme for those aged 17-25 but that extending the scheme to 16-year-olds is “more complex”.
He added: “There are some very legitimate concerns that have been raised with me. Some around legal complexities, some around the age of consent being 17, and there are medical ethics and various principles that are used.”
Mr Donnelly said that standards of medical ethics consider a person to be an adult at age 16, meaning they can consult a doctor without a parent or guardian present.
He added: “I have a pretty simple view on this which is that a young woman at 16 years of age can walk into her GP today and say she’s pregnant and she wants to avail of termination of pregnancy services and they will be provided to her, quite rightly.
“I feel that if we are offering those services to a young woman who is 16 she should also be able to go into her GP and say ‘I’d like to be able to avail of free contraception’.
“It is no more complex than that.”
The proposal to expand the scheme was welcomed by Labour leader Ivana Bacik.
She said it would be a “spurious” argument to suggest that expanding the scheme represented the State giving licence to underage sex.
Ms Bacik added: “The reality is – and anyone who knows anything about women’s healthcare knows – that the contraceptive pill is prescribed for a multiple of period regulation and menstrual cycle regulation.”
