The former director of the Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Olive Braiden, will head the new Crisis Pregnancy Agency.
The setting up of the agency is part of the Government package to deal with abortion. Minister for Health Mr Martin said the agency would have a budget of €6.5 million (£5.1 million) for 2002.
The agency will have a three-fold task: to work through education and other programmes to reduce crisis pregnancies; to work with women having crisis pregnancies, to offer them options in Ireland; and to develop supports for women who have had an abortion.
Ms Braiden will chair the nine-person board of the agency, which will be set up as an independent body by statutory instrument. The other board members have not been named.
Ms Braiden said the agency would research the reasons for crisis pregnancies. "There will be a lot of campaigning and education, a lot of preventative programmes," she said. Information on contraception will be included.