Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My first question is to Dr. O'Grady. He heard this morning, and will be aware from the evidence given on Friday and in January, that to a reasonable extent every witness has said abortion is not a treatment for suicide. The X case, which we are legislating for - I am referring to head 4 - will require certification to the extent that abortion is the only treatment available. Dr. O'Grady represents the group Doctors For Choice Ireland, an advocacy group, and is entitled to his opinion, and he has been frank and has put on the record that he has provided such certification. Can he tell me that in those certifications he was absolutely satisfied that abortion was the only treatment? Is part of his being satisfied the idea that abortion is the only suitable treatment, which legally it would have to be? Could he advise me what other treatments would be offered to those patients? We sometimes lose the importance of the language. The certification must have been that abortion is the only treatment. Was Dr. O'Grady satisfied in that regard? What other treatments had been offered? Dr. O'Grady also requested that we change the wording of the Bill to replace "unborn" with "foetus". What is his thinking on that?

Dr. O'Keane made the statement that the difficulty with evaluating suicidal ideation has been exaggerated. How can she justify that with what she said here before, along with others, about the 97% inaccuracy in that identification? She said the evaluation had been exaggerated, but if experts like her say that in 97% of cases she is incorrect, how can she justify the statement that this is exaggerated?