Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry that I was not present for the first part of Ms Cody's statement. The major issue is the revelations in the media of how vulnerable women were treated. Notwithstanding the good intentions of those behind the Bill, I am still not quiet convinced, given what Ms Cody said in her statement about people who did not necessarily call themselves counsellors. The Bill has been designed to target a specific group of rogue counsellors or whatever name one wishes to call them who prey on vulnerable women at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives. Could the legislation be amended or tweaked to ensure it would encompass the people who put the issue on the agenda in the first place? We all know who they are and from where they operate. I am not convinced that they necessarily call themselves counsellors. My fear is that reputable counsellors, men and women who give good solid advice to women in a crisis pregnancy, will now have to pay a fee for registration. I am not saying it is necessarily a penalty, but those who are doing it correctly and well and their best to try to help women will be subject to regulation, while at the same time those who should not be let near women in a crisis pregnancy will not be encompassed by the legislation. Is it Ms Cody's opinion that we will be able to make the legislation sufficiently robust so as not to capture those who have come to attention recently?