Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Before the witnesses came in, we heard from a psychiatrist who said it is a case of the earlier the better in terms of a resolution. I do not want to misquote her but my understanding is that prolonging the situation for women seems to be very difficult. In their experience, do the witnesses see lengthy processes involving verification and validation of a claim as having a negative effect on women's lives? The longer women are pregnant, the greater the complications that arise in the context of terminations. It could be argued that if it went on long enough, for example, past 26 weeks, that essentially a woman could be forced to be an incubator for an unwanted pregnancy.

I draw the committee's attention to a legal case where custody was granted to a rapist in Michigan. It was reported by the BBC at the start of this month. A man who raped a 12-year old girl, on his release from prison as a convicted paedophile, gained access and parental rights to the offspring of the crime, the child produced as a result of the rape. He was committed to prison for his action but his name was added to the birth certificate of the child against the mother's wishes. Does Mr. O'Malley think there is scope and capacity in Irish law to allow parental access or rights to a convicted rapist father upon his release from prison? Should he be supported by the State in that capacity, in that he would he have access to children's allowance payments and so forth? I understand that paternity leave probably would not be a factor unless he got a very short sentence because the timing would not be right. Theoretically, however, if it was a short sentence, he could potentially apply for two weeks' paternity leave within 26 weeks of the child being born . I would welcome Mr. O'Malley's views on that.