Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I know but I am not sure that putting the various aspects together is the best way to achieve our objective.

The clinical approach is a better one. There will be primary care centres that may well have nurses prescribing who are educated to degree level. We have got to capture that and not overly restrict what can be done. I take the point that is being made. The witnesses from Holland were quite useful in this regard. In their jurisdiction, they have a 12-week limit but they drew attention, in particular, to the fact that those who tend to present later, where there has been rape or incest, for example, tend to be younger. The delegates from Holland outlined how they dealt with a combination of factors, as in a rape accompanied by distress and mental health issues or, perhaps, a physical health issue where somebody very young is involved. One can proceed by separating the two factors but I am concerned that we are trying to capture everything in one measure. I am not opposed to it but I would rather see us dealing with each separately. The amendment on the clinical aspect is a good additional one.