Pregnancy and ovulation testing kits are the most commonly stocked self-diagnosis tests in pharmacies, according to Kate Healy, spokeswoman for the Irish Pharmaceutical Union.
But the market for other home-testing products is expanding at an enormous rate.
Earlier this year, UK company Fertell said it planned to release its over-the-counter fertility test for men on to the Irish market. According to the company, the test is 95 per cent accurate and takes as little as 15 minutes to show a result.
Tests for sexually transmitted diseases, which take eight minutes to show a result, are now available from an Irish website, while it is understood that more than 8,000 home drug-testing kits have been bought in Ireland over the past number of years.
These kits enable parents to test their children for a variety of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and ecstasy, using a urine test.
In the United States, paternity testing has become a big industry as a result of a number of low-cost, mail-order home-testing kits coming on to the market. Using a simple cheek swab from a child, the results of these home tests are admissible as evidence in court.