Ms Janice Donlon:

I believe that international evidence would also show that the number of women who take up post-abortion counselling is low internationally. That trend is similar in Ireland. Women do not often identify that they need counselling after an abortion. It is realistic to understand that many women do not require counselling. Some women do and our services are available to those women. The counselling services that we fund report that women often attend for post-abortion counselling many years after they have experienced an abortion. It is not necessarily straight after their experience that they seek counselling. It may be down the line. International evidence would show that women do not seek or do not feel that they require counselling but post-abortion, and this is reflected in the numbers here also.