Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to bring us back to what it is we are doing with this legislation. I would like to read first-person testimony from a Dublin midwife:

Dear Stephen, I am a midwife working in a Dublin maternity hospital. Every day I am faced with anti-abortion protests. This morning I am looking at six men, for most of the time they are men - very rarely do I see a woman. They are being peaceful but I find it very upsetting that they are allowed stand so close to us. What is happening with the exclusion zones? Surely I can come to work and do my job without having this problem every day? I am in a clinic where I sometimes give the news to a patient that her baby has no heartbeat. As I comfort her, I am aware that these men are outside the window and that she will see them. Can I ask you to please urgently bring forward laws to implement the exclusion zones?

That is what we are doing here. We are not seeking to stop people protesting outside the Oireachtas. We are not seeking to stop people marching. Senator Keogan has raised a legitimate concern, and it has been looked at. I asked the same questions myself to make sure that people could march through Dublin. I received clear assurance that would be compliant with the law because no offence can be committed until a formal warning has been issued by a Garda. For example, if marchers decided they were only going to march around the Rotunda, then clearly that is a protest affecting people walking in and out of the Rotunda. No offence at that point is committed. The Garda would issue a warning to cease and an offence would only be committed if, having received the warning, they refused to comply with that warning. It does not affect marches. I appreciate the Senator raising that point so that we could clarify it.

The Bill is about this midwife being able to treat women who sometimes are in a very vulnerable space, without six men standing outside the window with placards. That is ultimately what this is about. I have other testimony from GPs around the country talking about the protests outside their surgeries. I have complete respect for everyone's views regarding termination of pregnancy. It is probably the most difficult issue we legislate for and deal with. I do not believe there is a right answer to this. We do the best we can. My view is that women should have access to termination services. However, I fully respect views right across the board on this.

My points with regard to my officials and the HSE is that direct accusations of corruption were being made against officials. I do not care what accusations are made against me. I do not mind. However, I have to speak on behalf of this midwife and the GPs because it is being alleged in this Chamber that they are lying. It is being alleged here that this testimony is false testimony and that either I made it up or my officials made it up, or that someone is masquerading as a Dublin midwife. This is a legitimate testimony directly to me from one of our midwives. She is speaking the truth. My belief is that she needs to be able to go to work every day without feeling intimidated and harassed, and the women she helps, and indeed their partners, deserve that same dignity and privacy. That is the only reason we are here.

My second last point is that it has been alleged that we are not doing anything to try to reduce the number of abortions or termination services that are required. I have never met anyone who said this was something that they wanted in their lives. This is something that women are faced with. It is a service they must have access to. In terms of reducing unplanned pregnancies, the House will be aware that we have taken a very considerable option. In fact, we introduced free contraception for women, which is now available right up to the age of 35. I have no doubt that is already making a big difference. In fact, in 2023 approximately 200,000 young women in Ireland availed of the free contraception services. We take that part of our responsibilities very seriously in healthcare. Women need access to termination of pregnancy services. They also need access to the full range of contraception services. They need them for free. They need full access to their GPs, checkups with their GPs and full access to the services pharmacists provide. This Government is proud of the fact that we have provided those services. I want to recognise there has been a great deal of support around the Houses, both in the Government and in the Opposition, for that.

Specifically on amendments Nos. 3, 4 and 7, which deal with exemption for lawful protest within 100 m of entrances to either House of the Oireachtas, it is essential that protest is allowed within 100 m of the Oireachtas. The reason we have this in the Bill is in order that, if there was a service provider within 100 m of the Oireachtas, that could create a zone where people may feel they could not protest. We are making it clear that in fact they can protest within 100 m of the Oireachtas even if that is within 100 m of a service provider. For that reason I will not be accepting amendments Nos. 3, 4 and 7.