Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. Mrs. Justice McGuinness started by saying she did not know why she was invited to address this forum. It is clear to everyone who is sitting here why the invitation was extended to her. She was invited because of her honesty and wisdom.

That is what the hearing is about. It is about us listening to the honesty and wisdom of everyone who has spoken in the last two days and who will speak tomorrow. Mrs. Justice McGuinness hit the nail on the head when she said it is not we who are sitting in this Chamber who are not important, but the people who are looking on. We should not be concerned with legal and medical minds so much as with women who face the difficulty, when their child tells them she has been abused or raped, of where they go from there. Mrs. Justice McGuinness has hit the nail on the head.

Professor Binchy spoke about human rights. I am a mother and I believe in human rights. When someone comes to my office and says she has a difficulty because her child is pregnant and asks what she should do with her, I believe that child has human rights. I did not see that answered in anything Professor Binchy said.