Dr. Caitriona Henchion:

If I could first focus on the initial question as to who should be on the register, whether objectors or non-objectors, in principle I really like what the Deputy said but the purpose of My Options is to help women, not to make them have to go through the 90% of people in the country who do not provide what they are looking for in order to see who is left over. That is important.

It is also important for someone to be able to expect to go to his or her GP for any basic healthcare. Not all GPs fit intrauterine devices, for example, but they should be able immediately to direct the patient where to go and offer any assistance the patient may need, whether it is a prescription or whatever. That is where the difference is. Patients should not have to call reception and be told they cannot see the doctor because a given service is not provided there, without being given anything else. In fact, that would not even be recorded as a refusal of care because the person would never even get to see a doctor. If a patient rings a GP practice, which takes a lot of courage, and is just told "No", that will never be recorded anywhere.

The way to resolve this, as Ms Spillane said, relates to proper education, making it core curriculum throughout all medical healthcare curriculums and engaging with non-providers continually to at least say that while they may choose not to provide the service, whether because they are too busy or whatever, these women will nonetheless come in with problems after accessing the service. They need to know what happened, what their needs are and how to care for them. The evidence shows the more that people are exposed in some way to this care, the more acceptance will develop and the more likely people will be to have a much broader base in the future. It always comes down to education in these matters and that is important not to forget.