Professor Veronica O'Keane:

What the Deputy has referenced is the opposite to evidence. I do not see how a vague and abstract extrapolation such as that amounts to evidence in respect of 100,000 people being alive because of the eighth amendment. As regards whether we want to go down the road the UK has, we have already done so. That is where our abortion service is. Women go to England and that is where our service is provided. I do not know if doctors in Ireland aspire to having a service similar to that available in the UK. We want a solution appropriate to our needs. We want a compassionate, woman-centred service that will address the needs of Irish women. That will inevitably involve a more liberal regime. It is not possible to make flexible legislation within the vice grip of the constitutional prohibition. The amendment did not save lives; it diverted the problem to our neighbours in the UK.