Professor Fergal Malone:

The Deputy had some specific questions on the cots of the blood test which is done at nine or ten weeks. It currently costs about €350 per blood test, but that is partly because the intellectual property and patent is owned by some international genetic companies which have a certain amount of profit built in to the tests. That is business.

If we could have a genetic sequencer and the required laboratory technology here, I am confident that the test could be performed at as low a cost of €150 or €100. The cost could be reduced considerably if we developed an appropriate genetic laboratory here. At the moment, patients have to pay about €350 because a sample is sent to commercial laboratories in the United States or London.

On the comment that doctors cannot even lift a telephone to make a referral, that is true. There is a ridiculous situation now whereby some doctors are using euphemisms. They will write a letter to another doctor in the United Kingdom and ask him or her to see a patient with anencephaly for a second opinion. It is a euphemism for saying that he or she is not sending a patient over for a termination of pregnancy because that would be a referral, but is instead asking for a second opinion. That is the cover people are trying to use because they are concerned about how the legislation is written. It is real and changes how communication happens.

Migrant women and women who come to any country from another country are probably more at risk in terms of maternal health and well-being and are probably over-represented in statistics for maternal morbidity and mortality because they have a hard time accessing services or trusting that they can access services. We would like the message to go out, as Dr. Mahony said, that if a patient takes medication at home to bring on a pregnancy termination and runs into trouble, we want her to present to a hospital immediately. We will certainly not be looking to refer or report a patient to authorities. Rather, we just want to care for patients.

The reality is that some patients from other countries may not be comfortable with the fact that the doctor or health care system may be somehow complicit with the justice system and they will be reported. We would not do that. We care for patients.