Professor Veronica O'Keane:

The two questions are linked. They are related to the women who are left behind. For many of my more seriously ill patients with whom we develop long-term relationships, we are like their family. If they need to fill out a form for social welfare, our social worker helps them to fill out the form. If they are trying to get back to work or do courses, our occupational therapist will help them.

The allied mental health professionals work with individuals with serious mental health problems and advise them in different areas of their lives. We cannot advise them in this area. The Deputy is absolutely correct because we are prohibited from helping anyone to procure an abortion. I absolutely cannot tell anybody about how to procure pills. None of us can because it is against the law. We are not allowed to help anyone to procure an abortion and nobody here is allowed to procure an abortion. Yes, it is breaking the law and that has been laid down very clearly in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act.

I guess that answers the question as to why in situations where very vulnerable women want abortions, they need the same help they would require if they wanted to look for a disability allowance or to do anything else in their lives; they are very dependent on us. They live independent lives that are as autonomous as they can possibly be within the limitations of their handicaps. Our ideal is to maximise their autonomy, but they need a lot of support. We cannot support them in this area because we are prohibited from doing so. We are prohibited from doing so because there is a constitutional ban on abortion. We are legally prohibited from doing it because it is against the law, with a sentence of up to 14 years applying. That is very regrettable because in situations like this we are not able to practise medicine as we ought to be practising it, namely, by helping and facilitating our patients to live their lives. It is very difficult for them.