Dr. Peter Boylan:

As to interpreting the Constitution, the most egregious example of that was the Miss P case. Everyone present is aware of it and the appalling vista that it presented. The doctors were unable to make a decision as to whether they could turn off her life support because of the presence of a foetal heartbeat. That is the best example. In terms of day-to-day practice, the issue would not arise on a daily basis. In a busy unit like a tertiary referral centre, however, it would be an issue and people would wonder whether it was legal to provide a termination in a particular case.

Another problem is that cases going to the European Court of Human Rights makes the eighth amendment difficult on the ground for practising staff.

The best outcome is the interaction between the patient and the health care professional. There is no question about that. No two situations are identical and many nuances are involved in all scenarios. Some people have different attitudes towards risk, for example. All of these factors need to be taken into consideration. The best person to make those considerations is the patient with her health care professional.

Twenty-three weeks and on is where foetal viability is now regarded as a practical proposition. Many of those survivors at 23 weeks will have significant disabilities, for example, cerebral palsy and blindness, and be completely dependent for the rest of their lives. It is not that everything is fine at 23 weeks - it is not like that at all - but if a baby is born at 23 weeks, physicians in Ireland will do everything to care for that baby. For example, if we have a woman with a severe condition who is at 23 and a half weeks with twins and we tell her that she is really sick and we need to deliver her, and if she asks us to do everything to save the babies, we will perform a caesarean section and intervene in the best interests of those babies. That is theoretically a termination of pregnancy, but we will in fact do everything to look after those babies when they are born. It is not a simple situation and viability changes. When I was in training, a baby born at 28 weeks had little chance of survival. The situation is improving all of the time with intensive neonatal care, advances, research and so on. Is that a satisfactory answer?