Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I join with other members in welcoming all of the panellists. To address Mr. Behan's contribution on behalf of the Irish Family Planning Association, I note that in his submission Mr. Behan has very correctly pointed out - this is also my opinion, and a number of colleagues have already expressed a concern in this regard - that the first point of contact is often with the local GP, although, sadly, GPs do not have an opportunity to come before the committee over these three days. Mr. Behan said: "The experience of the IFPA and of many doctors is that medical service providers in Ireland are prevented from acting in the best interests of pregnant women's health, and must navigate the grey areas of the law". That is an important point to make.

When Mr. Behan went on to talk about those who avail of the IFPA's services, he noted the fact that there are a small number of people presenting for whom the risk to their lives is real and identifiable. Of those who do, he indicated that a very small number again, which is consistent with all of the evidence we have had, have suicidal ideation or intent. Can Mr. Behan give us any indication of the numbers of those who might have attempted suicide over the period of time? I am hoping "unsuccessfully" would be the point to add. Does Mr. Behan consider it likely that women who have the financial means and who have either suicidal ideation or suicidal intent will continue to travel in order to access abortion services rather than face the psychiatric services within this State? Is that something he would recognise?

Professor Greene's presentation with regard to maternal death enquiry, MDE, was broadly statistical, I think it is fair to say. I welcome the statistics he has shared with us. He has not drawn any conclusions per se in terms of his contribution, either in writing or orally, today. Would he like to elaborate on this in any way, particularly in regard to table 2 and the comparisons with other international settings? Are there conclusions of views that he would deduce from the information presented in table 2?

Time beats us all the time here. None the less, in conclusion, I welcome the obstetricians and gynaecologists and I thank Professor McAuliffe for her contribution. I seek one small clarification. She made the point that in certain circumstances general hospital settings could be appropriate for particular decisions to be taken, which is outside the remit of obstetricians and gynaecologists. However, many of these general hospitals do not have maternity units. Will Professor McAuliffe elaborate on that and give us a sense of the situations she would see as appropriate to the particular point she shared with us in the course of her contribution?