Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

My point is that we may need to return to this next week. I want to make another point. We heard a lot about Savita Halappanavar today. It would have been good if this committee made the decision that the eighth amendment would be repealed before the anniversary of her death. The Oireachtas has had five years to deal with this. Although some people say they are not ready, we agreed on 11 July to have a modular structure. It is a pity that that is not being adhered to, but this is not about procedure. The first question is why people are not ready. This has been known about for years and the Citizens' Assembly reported in April, so people had ample time to get legal advice and to consider the issues. My fear, however, is that those who are saying they are not ready but in private session are saying that they are in favour of repeal will use the repeal vote to bargain against other things being agreed. It is not my fault they are gone, but everyone noticed the vote that was taken at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis three days ago, which might have had a bearing on people over the last day. However, I do not think those people are representative, given opinion polls have shown that 10% of people oppose changing the eighth amendment. Therefore, most people realise that there has to be change.