Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Let us go back to the concept of the protection of life. How far does that go in the Constitution? How far does that push us as legislators? We asked this earlier. There is scholarly thinking around how we do not do things that ensure that in every way possible. Is there an interpretation of that in the context of the expectation on the Oireachtas or is it the idea more up in the sky?

There are two different opinions here on whether the Oireachtas can legislate on this. We have heard about how the Fleming judgement contains a line that the Oireachtas should legislate for it. Will we, particularly when one considers all the other areas of the Constitution, including the protection of the right to life, be able to legislate for it? I might be pre-empting the rest of the committee's work, but is there a space within which we can come up with legislation that would manage all this or does the Constitution contain so many elements that it would make it too complex for us to do that?