Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

The production of those guidelines has caused huge problems for many doctors. As regards the panel of psychiatrists, what steps is the Minister taking to screen some of those people to ensure they will work within the legislation, given that about one third of psychiatrists in the State have signed a petition stating that they do not agree with the Act? They do not agree that there are any circumstances in which a suicidal woman should be given access to an abortion. Clearly, we could not have a situation in which those people would be involved in assessing such women. I wonder what the Minister intends to do about that.

Can he tell us anything more about his knowledge or involvement in the Y case, obviously in the context of information that he cannot divulge? That case demonstrates that women do not have a right to access abortion in Ireland when their lives are in danger, so clearly the legislation is defective.

My last point concerns the practice of symphysiotomy. Given the fact that there is no real, meaningful oversight of clinical practice, there are a lot of discrepancies in the figures, including the number of symphysiotomies that were carried out. The women involved have had difficulty in accessing those records. What inquiries has the Minister made concerning allegations that a symphysiotomy was carried out in St. Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, as recently as last year? Has that been investigated? It is only an allegation, but it is one that people believe to be true. Given the abhorrent and criminal nature of the practice of symphysiotomy, an investigation is urgently required to ascertain whether this has taken place.