Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 65:

In page 13, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:“(2) An advocate for the preservation of the life of the unborn nominated by the Attorney General shall be entitled to be heard at the review committee and shall be entitled to review all the documents and information put before the review committee but shall not be entitled to cross examine the pregnant woman.”.

The purpose of this amendment is to deal with the issue raised by the retired former Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, which is representation for the unborn, particularly in the case of a review where, by definition, the person has been refused and has sought a review. Therefore, it must have been the opinion of the initial medical practitioners that there was not a real and substantial threat to the life of the mother which could only be thus resolved. The idea here is that somebody would be nominated by the Attorney General to be heard by the committee and to have access to documents on behalf of the unborn but specifically not have the right to cross examine the woman in question.