Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I pay my compliments to all the people who have given of their time, energy and expertise and worked on this Bill. I should mention that I was reluctant and still would be reluctant to identify the locations where people are seeking access to a service that is legally provided for them in the country. The debate that arises is whether they should be able to access such services with full privacy, in the way they should be able to access medical services, as that is a vital service. I need to remind myself as well that this primary legislation sets out in great detail the extent to which the service was vital and readily available. I hope there does not begin to be a sense that having legal access to the service is one thing but that it cannot be accessed by dint of protest by a person or persons unknown. Other speakers have brought this up in relation to immigrants and other issues.

I hope that this does not bring specific attention to protestors who want to make the legislation unworkable. I appreciate the work that is being done by the group that is before us this morning, on the basis of its anxiety to make the Bill work.

I have not received detailed information on the individual cases or on the number of cases where the reverse was the case and where people have been harassed. What are the numbers? Have people been interfered with in any way?

There is now a phrase in the protesting world, which is “effective protesting”. That means something more sinister than just having the right to protest. Is it envisaged that adequate provisions have been made, or are they in the process of being made, in order to identify such protests in a way that will protect the people who have a need for the services that are being provided? This may be a life-or-death issue, depending on the particular case. A person who is seeking such services has the right to do so without interference, notwithstanding the right to public protest. What is the general thinking on that?