Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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That is fine.

To return to one of the points made by Senator Ruane, I do think there has to be a certain amount of respect given to those of us on the committee when we are discussing pregnancy related issues who have had that very personal experience. I found the content of some of what was said quite disrespectful. I do not intend to get into a row with anybody about it. In fact, the more people who see it, the more the disrespect is evident.

With regard to the perinatal mental health strategy, we appreciate that it is to be introduced. That will require a significant amount of investment and upskilling of personnel. It is also going to require access right across the country. We would welcome the fact that it is on its way but what we are discussing is the grounds as laid down by the Citizens' Assembly. One of those is the mental health of the pregnant woman. As things stand we are clearly struggling in that area. It is true to say there is a huge amount of compassion and it is radiating from the evidence we have heard. That is very much to be welcomed.

Does Dr. McCarthy agree with me that the added stress and trauma for a pregnant woman in terms of what the 2013 Act places on her is compounded by the lack of resources? While we are considering the issue around access to termination on the grounds of mental health, we must also consider the resources and the implications for that. That is going to be important for us.

We are considering risk. I have asked this question of every single witness. I appreciate that I usually get the same answer but it is important that we have it on the record. My understanding is that it is quite tough for us as legislators using legalistic terminology to hand the medical professionals a piece of paperwork and ask them to make medical decisions based on it. We use terms such as "grave risk" and "serious risk". Will Dr. McCarthy indicate whether such terms are in use in the medical profession or is it more likely that there is just risk, that there are not categories such as "grave" and "serious"? What kind of terminology is used? I am conscious that what we are doing is trying to devise a legalistic framework, but when that is finished, we hand it to the medical profession. How easy will it be to translate that? I am conscious of the 2013 Act and the necessary complications that arise out of that, and the fact that all of the available evidence suggests, as was pointed out by a lot of people in advance of it, that it is fairly unworkable for most people. We know the result of that. We use legalistic terms in listing the gradation of the risk. Is there anything we can do to help to translate that for practical use?