Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is very hard to follow Deputy O'Connell, who is certainly worth listening to. I thank the witnesses. I have read the presentation Professor Arulkumaran made to the Citizens' Assembly. Clearly women can go to Britain. We have abortion, but it happens to be in Britain. The professor presented figures from South Africa showing a 91% decrease in deaths from unsafe abortions when it was legalised. Yesterday I attended the launch of the UN report on the Sustainable Development Goals. The reality of women who die on the African Continent because they do not have access to a place like Britain is very stark.

Professor Arulkumaran presented graphs showing the reduction in abortions after legalisation in France, Italy and Turkey. I ask him to outline the reduction in abortion following legalisation so that we can be clear that we are talking about either unsafe abortions or legal abortions.

Several people have referred to the anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar and the sensitivity and difficulty for her family. Senator Mullen - I am sorry he is not here - referred to another woman who died. The witness did not have time to respond to the question because he had gone over his time. Is that the same woman referred to last week by the master of the Rotunda Hospital? If it was, it was a very different interpretation of why that woman died. I will give the witness more time to respond to that issue raised by Senator Mullen. His statement as to the reason that woman died does not seem to be true.

My final question is to Dr. Ní Bhuinneáin and perhaps to Dr. Boylan. Deputy Naughton asked about training and systems, and people having conscientious objections. When representatives of the Irish College of General Practitioners appeared before the committee, they made it clear that somebody with a conscientious objection has an obligation to refer the case to somebody who does not who will deal with the issue. Is that the same for obstetrics and gynaecology? If so what would be the practice whereby somebody in a hospital in the west of Ireland or the mid-west in my case can be certain that they will have access to the care they require irrespective of the geography?