Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. Before asking questions, I very much welcome Deputy O'Connell's suggestion regarding a team of sexologists. I would like to attend any such meeting, as I expect all members would.

With regard to the five-day waiting period, is it the case that a woman is not required to visit a doctor beforehand and may express a wish to have an abortion by email and visit the doctor five days later?

With regard to issues of geography and the availability of services, an ever increasing number of Irish women are accessing abortion pills online via the womenonweb.org website. In some cases, their reason for doing so is that they do not have the wherewithal to travel or they find out early that they are pregnant. Do women in the Netherlands access the services of womenonweb.orgor is this not necessary because there is sufficient provision in the State system? In terms of geography, how do women access clinics? Is it through their general practitioner? Obviously, isolation can be an issue for women living outside cities and towns, even in countries where abortion care is readily available. What has been the witnesses' experience in this regard?