Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for appearing before us. I will mention in passing that not all countries have equal provisions on the availability of abortion, as we heard during the assembly's discussions. Regarding the acceptability to our society, we would be foolish to reach a conclusion just because there has been general acceptance so far and the Citizens' Assembly discovered A, B and C in the various responses to it. There were many indications ahead of previous referenda that they would receive considerable support until the time came and they did not. We must operate on the basis at all times that, whatever we do and say, nothing is as clear as it may appear at this stage.

I would be of the opinion - perhaps I am naïve in this - that it would be absolutely essential for a rape victim to seek medical assistance immediately. There are no circumstances in which that should be avoided, including for general health reasons. This has come to my attention in cases where young children were the victims of rape were frightened, unsure of what to do and were afraid to tell their parents or guardians. In those circumstances there is a serious void in what the witnesses have correctly drawn attention to in terms of the quality and availability of sex education in schools, but there is also a serious void in terms of what parents should know about what happens to their children. It is hugely important that the situation would be clarified. Regardless of the debate we are having in this situation that is of fundamental importance to the rights of the child, who is the victim.

I have gotten myself into difficulty in the past by suggesting that in rape situations there should be a quick intervention. The counter-argument has been that the child who is not yet born is an innocent victim as well and that is a reason to allow the pregnancy to continue. I do not accept that. Apart altogether from the legal procedures taken against the perpetrator of a violent criminal act, there needs also to be a recognition that to allow the victim to become a victim again, as it were, and to have to continue to live with that, is unfair, unjustified and to my mind illegal in terms of an act against the person going unchallenged in that regard, apart from the-----