Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister is dealing with multiple points on this but could I just get his view on the point I raised? He has not come back to me on it. He has made the point that he would seek medical input on what "extraordinary" means. That is fine. I am raising a different point, which is a legislative point. Medics can give us their view but really it is a legal point. This defines viability in terms of the survival of the foetus outside of the womb "without extraordinary life-sustaining measures". That is its definition. We are telling the obstetricians that when they are making calls as to whether a pregnancy is viable, the foetus must be able to live without "extraordinary life-sustaining measures" after delivery. The Minister and I know that obstetricians are not going to do that. They will throw everything they can at the baby, but to be in compliance with this they cannot. There is a serious drafting issue in how the Minister has defined and applied viability. Could he speak to that?