Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am standing in for Deputy Hildegarde Naughton.

I thank all of the delegates for their contributions. To some extent, many of my questions have been answered. When one is the fourth questioner, things can get a bit messy; therefore, I ask for forgiveness if they do.

My first question is for Professor Fiona de Londras. Will she make us aware of whether any European constitutional court has dealt with similar issues concerning the unborn and access to abortion services? If so, will she tell us how it has dealt with and resolved these issues? I am considering the matter in the wider European context, considering that we are where I imagine others have been.

To return to the issue of repealing or replacing and bearing in mind the amount of documentation we have received, the main issue on my mind coming here today was that of the evidence of the Citizens' Assembly and the views of delegates, the experts, on repealing or replacing. As I do not want to misquote anyone or condense some of the delegates' statements, making them open to misinterpretation, they should correct me if I am wrong. What I am really taking from what is being said is that laying out explicitly the grounds on which somebody could access abortion services is pretty much unworkable. To follow on from Deputy James Browne, it is very important that they hear the answers to these questions, including on the issue of rape which is a criminal act. If we were to produce a list of reasons somebody might be deserving of the right to an abortion, or where we would deem her to be so deserving, what would be the position? If somebody was raped, be it violent or otherwise, would it be pretty much impossible for a decision to be made? Who would decide?

One of the delegates spoke about time sensitivity. Serious issues arise about empowering people and taking power from people and putting it in the hands of somebody else. All of the delegates have nearly answered that replacing the wording with a list of who was deserving would really not be workable. Perhaps they might clarify the matter to ensure I am not misinterpreting them.

I was going to ask about the constitutional issue of exceptional circumstances, but I believe that question has been answered by Dr. Kenny. Is there any country in Europe that has a list of reasons one can access an abortion service? Who authorises abortions in these circumstances?

My next question is for Dr. Kenny and it is about the idea of having legislation on abortion that would not be subject to constitutional challenge. Am I correct in saying nearly any outcome could be subject to a constitutional challenge? Are we saying that, no matter what the outcome of a referendum, someone could technically challenge it in court? Am I misinterpreting the position?

Would anyone have concerns if we were to constitutionally preclude constitutional challenges to future legislation on abortion, or if we were to write in that no one could challenge a provision in the future?