Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. In the context of the differing positions presented to us we will need to try to elucidate and get some further clarity. Professor O'Keane highlighted the issue that 130,000 women have travelled abroad to the United Kingdom since 1983 for terminations. Professor Casey said that suicidality, suicide ideation and suicide are reasonably rare and that suicide in particular is very rare among pregnant women. Is there is a cohort of women who are in crisis pregnancies, who go abroad and who could be at great risk, but who are not being taken into account in the figures and statistics? This is critical question for the committee. Of the women who travel abroad, is there a higher percentage who go there because it is a crisis pregnancy or an unwanted pregnancy or for whatever reason, but who go abroad for a termination? In the event of such people being unable to terminate a pregnancy, is there a potential for self-harm and suicide? This issue is of critical importance to the committee in its deliberations and determinations. We need to get clarity on this issue.

An issue has been highlighted with regard to the ability of psychiatrists to assess suicide in its varying degrees, from ideation to intent to actual suicide. Do psychiatrists have the clinical ability to differentiate in most cases between the various forms or threats to the life of a woman? This is something we are also keen to get clarity on.

The two key issues I have highlighted are critical. There are varying views on these, even among the cohort here today. If that is the case, then what form of assessment is there? Are various assessments being carried out by psychiatrists in different hospitals? Are there set criteria or guidelines? When a psychiatrist comes out of college after studying psychiatry for a given number of years, what criteria are used in terms of assessing suicide ideation, suicidal intent and suicide itself? If there are varying views and assessments, then we will have a difficult task ahead of us as legislators in trying to address this particular issue.

I want absolute clarity before I leave this place today with regard to the 130,000 women who have gone to the United Kingdom for terminations. Is there a chance or probability that a higher percentage of these women, because they have found themselves in crisis pregnancies, would have suicidal tendencies and potentially carry out the act of suicide?