Ms Justice Mary Laffoy:

The first question referred to the recommendations and where the basis of the recommendations came from. That is my understanding of what the Deputy wanted to know. As I said in the opening address, we started establishing the framework from the start. We had our first meeting, and the Deputy will see from the report that we explained the law to the members, gave explanations about medical issues and all that. As we went along, we invited feedback from the members. We asked them what they wanted to know, what information they would like us to give them and what speakers they would like to hear. I know that I am not directly answering the question that was asked about where the recommendations came from, but as we were framing the work programme we were trying to identify what issues would arise at the end of the day - not necessarily the recommendations, but the issues that we should address.

If the Deputy looks at the work programme, he will see that the matters that came up in the recommendations were covered as we went along. The Deputy has concentrated on the reasons but the recommendations started with whether there should be a change in the law, the strong feeling being that there should be. The next issue was how the change was to be effected and the final recommendation was for a provision in the Constitution that the Oireachtas should have full autonomy to legislate in this area. Over and above the 13 recommendations, consideration was given to the reasons abortion could be lawful in this jurisdiction. The chair, the secretariat and the expert advisory group formed a draft ballot for consideration by the members and this had only eight reasons. Those eight reasons reflected what happened as we went along through the work programme. I do not know if that answers the Deputy's question. The issues which came up were those which come up in most jurisdictions in regard to this area. The work programme guidance, which we gave members as we went along, reflected that.

Two questions were asked relating to the same thing, namely, whether we noticed a change in mood or a different vibe. I sat through every session, all day, and all the round-table discussions. I sat at the top, looked down and observed everything that was going on and I can truthfully say that I did not notice a change in mood over the course of the process. I did not notice any vibe in respect of any particular topic but Ms Finegan may have a different view.