Ms Ailbhe Smyth:

As a woman with a very long association with the National Women's Council of Ireland going back long before Ms O'Connor's time and probably since the foundation of the council, I want to speak out very strongly in favour of its probity, integrity and independence over many years. It has done and continues to do an excellent job of giving women in this country a platform and space where our views can be expressed. It is not the case that we always have the same point of view but the National Women's Council has always worked extremely hard to make sense of the views expressed by the many women in Ireland who see the council as their representative organ in the State. That is particularly important for us given that our representation in this Chamber and particularly in the Dáil is so lamentably low. I offer my thanks to the National Women's Council for the work that is done.

In respect of what I mean by safe and legal abortion, by safe, I mean abortion carried out under medically appropriate circumstances and by legal, I mean quite simply abortion which is permissible by law. I mean nothing more than that.

In respect of fatal foetal abnormalities and the question raised about Dr. Simon Mills's Bill, I am not and do not set out to be a legal expert but based on the arguments in the D case heard by the European Court of Human Rights, there would appear to be a basis in Article 40.3.3° for permitting abortion in those cases. I believe, along with my colleagues in Choice Ireland, that this is a decision which would always be made by the woman in conjunction with her medical advisers.

In respect of the open the gates phrase which came up yet again in Senator Mullen's question, he may not and indeed cannot be aware because he was not here that I addressed that issue at some length in my presentation today.