Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is about the Chairman. I do not think the committee was conducted fairly or impartially. Mention has been made of all the people invited. The list is there. The vast majority of 28 or 29 people - one can put whatever flavour one likes on them - advocated for abortion. The number of pro-life people was limited to five in total. Some were in the second round when the Chairman found that, after the vote, she wanted to get balance. As well as that, the Chairman has taken part in a committee of which I am a member, the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, BIPA. The Chairman participated in committee D when I was there in Liverpool some months ago, in a debate about abortion, and again last weekend at a committee. I think it is wholly inappropriate, while meetings are happening here, for the Chairman to attend that other committee and debate abortion in the United Kingdom.