Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not a case of not believing the Minister or believing that she does not have genuine intent. The problem is that, one and a half years ago, the Minister did not oppose the Bill but made a statement saying she would like the provisions to be enacted. Now they will not be enacted. There will be a delay to their enactment unless we get concrete assurances that this will be dealt with by departmental officials, who have been very disrespectful to this Bill and this committee. We need to apply whatever leverage we can to address it because it is beyond urgent for the families involved. Every new inquest we hear of emphasises that this needs to be in place to improve maternity services. I do not think the two options are mutually exclusive. It was suggested that we go to committee chairs and I raised it at the Business Committee. It has been a topic of discussion every weekend and there is a much bigger picture, apart from this Bill. We can take it that the strategy is agreed.

We have to put it up to the Department, whether by taking a vote on it now or postponing the vote until next week, pending discussion with the Department and a timetable for this thing to be enacted by the summer. To be honest, I cannot seen it happening now. In order to focus attention we need to keep the proposition there. I am in favour of reaching a decision, whether today or next week.