Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee and taking the time to make their presentations to us. To be very clear on where I am coming from, not just because it is the Government's position but because it is my view, I prefer straightforward simple deletion. It has been very interesting to listen to the positions and views outlined by the witnesses. Much of what I have heard has confirmed my reason for supporting the view that the committee and Oireachtas should recommend simple straightforward deletion, which is the complexity of the issue and the fact there are multiple ways in which we could approach this if we do not go for straight deletion.

As has been very clearly outlined by Dr. Cahillane in her contribution, we could go with various options but these would create problems. I am interested to hear from people advocating for something different from my view. If we opt to replace it with a provision that has no effective obligation but is just a statement we run the risk of alienating a number of people who would like to see something stronger. If we replace it with something that confers obligations, I will refer to this as the "shall" option, we run the same risk in the opposite way.

It is an absolute nightmare to hold a referendum, about which everybody agrees, to remove something which should not be there. In such cases the referendum gets caught up in the politics of the issue, although we cannot envisage what that will involve at this point, and this can result in the referendum being lost. That would be regrettable. We would be going beyond a question of straight deletion and getting involved in myriad other views and opinions. My view is that it is the role of the Oireachtas to provide the necessary guidance, and to bring forward legislation according to policies decided by a majority of Members. If they are changed by the public at an election, so be it. In light of the experience this country has had, I am very cautious about this. No matter how well thought out it is and no matter how well legally advised we are that it can create a solution to something, it is a very precarious road to go down. In the case of the eighth amendment, we effectively handed over power to the Judiciary and to its interpretation of the situation.

What do the witnesses think of the argument for replacing the article? I believe there should be two referendums, one on straight deletion and another, to which Ms O'Connor referred, involving an enhanced process of consultation and coming back to the issue. I believe this is a much more viable way of proceeding.