Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo what other people have said on the process before we came in today. I found it very fair and productive. When I tabled the motion on repealing the eighth amendment and the amendment on the modular process, I had not yet witnessed transformations before my eyes. I can see when people are honestly and actively engaging with information and witnesses. I am watching that journey and I recognise it because it was a journey I took not too long ago in coming to a certain position. It happens especially when one is faced with the mountain of evidence and clear literature such as in the presentations we have seen. I commend that process no matter how much people who are not in the room right now want to undermine it. It is amazing what people will say when they come to realise they no longer have a monopoly on setting the moral standard or agenda.

Deputy Daly spoke about the legal evidence and went through each option. I am conscious that people at home are not privy to what we are looking at. We are talking in abstract ways about options one, two and three, for example, so five minutes is not sufficient for those to translate in such a way that people watching proceedings at home will understand. Now that the evidence has been given and discussed in public, will that legal advice become part of the Official Report in order that people can check what we were referring to when we talk about options?

I accept we cannot jump straight into the issue of whether people want to repeal, replace or repeal in tandem with drafted legislation. It has become very clear what is off the table and what is not workable or practical. Much of the evidence in the beginning was on certainty. The further we went along, it became evident that certainty is not the most important thing to look at. We are looking at what is workable and flexible. Based on what has been said about option two and entrenched legislation and option four which is repeal and replace on certain grounds - I could be referring to the wrong option numbers - it is very clear they do not work. Whatever we do after today, we should definitely work towards narrowing the legal advice in order that everything is not still floating around in the ether as something that needs to be discussed. We have already figured out that retain in full is off the table and we do not need to discuss it. I propose that, going forward, we narrow down the choices in terms of what is practical and flexible in order we are not rehashing this over and over again. I will not go back into everything that has been mentioned because Deputy Daly summarised the options very well. I want clarification on whether people who are watching proceedings will have access to the options. They were in The Irish Timesat one stage but I am sure it was a paraphrased version.