Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

Already the evidence exists in this regard among members of his party, as has happened in the past. Fianna Fáil is not above using the race card and it is doing so again. I have the text of a document from Councillor Sheila Gallogly that was sent to me by e-mail. I do not know her, but I understand she is a Fianna Fáil candidate in the forthcoming elections. Under the heading "referendum on citizenship", she outlines her opposition to an open door policy and refers to asylum seekers, refugees and the referendum. It is clear she is linking fears people in her area may have about immigration in this regard to maximise her position for political advantage. That is a sample of the evidence that exists. These are early days and, regrettably, we will see worse.

It is a great shame the PDs have lost any kind of principle they may have once had because the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, and Deputy O'Donnell in their days seemed to be able to find the gumption to fight and resist this kind of political opportunism. What happened to that? It has all dissipated. What happened in respect of the great stand the Minister, Deputy McDowell, took about "one-party government — no thanks"? We have one-party government, ably assisted by the PDs, to shore up the Fianna Fáil vote in these elections. "Bad government — no thanks" is what the Labour Party would say and this is bad government. It is bad, incompetent government to rush through a constitutional amendment that is legally flawed, has not had proper debate and deliberation and in respect of which no attempt has been made to find all-party consensus on this difficult issue.

This is a real issue and we should remember it is also about very vulnerable women in the late stages of pregnancy. That is what we are talking about. We are talking about women delivering babies. That is sometimes forgotten. It is as if hordes of pregnant women are lining up and we have to make sure that they do not break through the barricades. We do not know how many of them there are. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform does not know and neither does the Minister for Health and Children, but the latter knows he has an opportunity to use these people as an excuse in regard to the problems that exist, particularly in our maternity hospitals.

I accept there has been a large increase in the number of non-nationals giving birth. There are many non-nationals, many of whom are far away from home, living here. If many of them were not here our hospital service would have collapsed and our nursing homes would not be operating. We need and depend on these people. They are good people and some of them get pregnant and come to our hospitals to deliver their babies without anything problems arising in their final days of pregnancy, and what happens? They all get bundled into the figure the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform keeps promoting, namely, that one in four people who give birth here are non-nationals, as if one in four of the people who give birth come off the aeroplane in labour in order to get their citizenship. That is a dishonest approach. It is a frightening approach in terms of its implications as to how it can be promoted by unscrupulous candidates on the Government side. Even at this late stage I ask the Government to adopt the approach that has been spelt out in the report.

During the campaign on the last referendum on abortion the then Government tried to use and manipulate the masters of the maternity hospitals, but that backfired on it. This time the masters were determined they would not be used twice and they set the record straight. They did not plead with any Minister for a change in the law. That is not true and the Minister has put the record straight on that. I do not consider it is appropriate for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to use Dr. T. K. Whitaker and his expert group in the same way to shore up his argument. I would prefer to listen to Dr. T. K. Whitaker if he has anything to say on this issue because the Minister is an unreliable witness and cannot be trusted.

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