Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the experts. I will first pose a housekeeping question which I have put to previous expert groups and will also ask subsequent expert groups. Will the witnesses indicate whether they have been consulted or contacted by the Department, Health Service Executive, Ministers or officials on the heads of the Bill since the expert group report was published? Were they consulted on the paper presented by the College of Psychiatrists?

Dr. Sheehan makes an interesting point that psychiatrists, as medical practitioners, do not view this as an appropriate function. Does he mean that this is not so much a matter of conscientious objection but one that is not considered to be good medicine by many psychiatrists?

He also states that speedy delivery is contraindicated. Is he saying that we are proposing to legislate for something a psychiatrist cannot know and should not do?

On the question of capacity, can it be said, definitively, that a person who is suicidal has capacity for making irrevocable decisions? Is it possible that suicidal thoughts always affect consent at some level? What are the witnesses' views on that issue?

Are the witnesses concerned that what is being proposed here, following on from Deputy Flanagan's questions, could be the means of bringing about a greater demand for abortion for what might be termed social reasons, however tragic and difficult the human circumstances may be?

I wish to ask the psychiatrists generally whether there is any other case where psychiatrists certify for something, when a person presents with suicidal ideation, that is to the detriment of somebody else's rights. Is there a precedent for that? We hear of court cases where people ask, for example, not to be deported and mention that they are suicidal and we sympathise very deeply with such situations. Have psychiatrists ever certified for something that would be to the detriment of the rights of a constitutionally-protected actor, in this case the unborn, or indeed, somebody else? Have they ever certified against somebody else's best interests?

In the view of the psychiatrists, where abortion is certified, is there any way of knowing that this will not turn out to be adverse to a woman's mental health? We are conscious of the non-existence of any evidence based on the cohort of people who present as suicidal, but there does appear to be evidence, albeit contested, that there is a low to moderate increase in mental health risk to women associated with abortion. Could that include the cohort of women who are suicidal? Could a psychiatrist be concerned that, in certifying for an abortion under this legislation, he or she might be exposing a person to such risk or indeed, have no way of knowing that he or she is not?