Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is farcical, on the one hand, to say we have had a full discussion of all these issues and then, on the other, to make an arbitrary distinction by saying we have debated these matters and that members have had an opportunity to contribute on certain other recommendations today which touch directly on legalised abortion. We have now got to this stage. I know that we are all tried; I am certainly pretty tired. I am hearing that because the secretariat has to reach a certain deadline, we can truncate the discussion. That is an implicit acknowledgement that the recommendations are less important. Frankly, I do not believe any of this serious stuff means that we should close down debate.