Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

To start on the point the Minister finished on, he is absolutely correct. That the risk does not have to be immediate or inevitable is not embedded in the test that was set out by the Supreme Court. The test set out by the Supreme Court is very clear. I can say with confidence that the test is whether, as a matter of probability, there was a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, and the second part of it, we understand, is that it could only be averted by a termination. However, the fact that the court then said in the course of the judgment, and the Deputy is right, that that risk did not have to be immediate or inevitable is not embedded as part of the actual test promulgated by the Supreme Court. I am very clear on that, and that would be the advice the Deputy would get from any lawyer that examined the judgment. I would genuinely say that to the Deputy.