James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As one would expect from a barrister, Deputy Michael McNamara's contribution was helpful. The reality is that the law is the law and we have to take the legal advice of the highest law officer, the Attorney General.

The discretion is there for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the courts. While they have wisdom and knowledge of the law, they also have compassion. I do not believe that level of penalty will be imposed on a woman, particularly a minor.

Members raised a scenario in which a women obtains an abortifacient pharmaceutical drug on the Internet but has a partial abortion and must then go to a doctor. The patient-doctor relationship is one of absolute confidentiality. There is no onus on a patient to explain how she came across the tablets. They could have been obtained in the UK. A women could have procured a termination in the UK, which is not illegal, and returned with complications. As I have said already, we want people to avail of the services available from the Health Service Executive for after-abortion care and counselling. The Medical Council guidelines on disclosures required by law state:

In certain limited circumstances, disclosure of patient information may be required by law. These circumstances are not limited to but may include when ordered by a judge in a court of law, or by a tribunal or body established by an Act of the Oireachtas, or where mandated by infectious disease regulations. In these instances, you should inform patients of the disclosure and the reasons for it.

I do not believe such cases will come under that. The guidelines also state:

Disclosure of patient information without their consent may be justifiable in exceptional circumstances when it is necessary to protect the patient or others from serious risk of death or serious harm. You should obtain consent of the patient to the disclosure if possible.

I do not believe a case such as we are discussing is covered by that provision, as the event has happened, the danger has passed and the damage has been done. The guidelines state:

If you consider that disclosing patient information is justifiable, you should carefully consider whether anonymisation of the information (sharing it without revealing the patient's identity) would achieve the same potential benefits. You must also be careful to disclose the information to an appropriate person (or body) who understands that the information must be kept confidential. You should only disclose the minimum information that is necessary in the circumstances.

In the preceding instances, you should inform patients of the disclosure unless this would cause them serious harm.

The guidelines also deal with disclosures in the public interest, which would not apply here because it applies to the health of others.

In short, it is not necessary for the patient to reveal and not necessary for the doctor to inquire. From my experience in practice, I noted increasingly that patients were not presenting for certain issues relating to their health as they felt they would be reported on in insurance forms. I used to have to explain to people that insurance forms required all medical information.

I do not want the message to go out that doctors will start reporting young girls or women who find themselves in difficulty following a failed termination. It would be counterproductive. If we have any doubt, we just have to remind ourselves of the terrible tragedy in Granard, County Longford, all those years ago. I appreciate how members have expressed in different ways their compassion for women who find themselves in these circumstances. I do not want that compassion to be diluted or a message to go out from here that there will be no safe place for young girls or women who find themselves in this sort of trouble.