Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have learned of the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar. In April, the Minister of Health stated that no action had been taken on these issues by six successive Governments and that he had no wish to be part of the seventh. We know the terms of reference of the expert group and it is good that it has brought forward its report. The Minister stated he was confident that the group would produce proposals that were sensible, practical and implementable. There is a belief in Sinn Féin that all possible means of education and support services should be in place in order that the difficult choice of terminating a pregnancy can be avoided by as many women as possible. However, in this case we are advised that the woman and her husband asked for a termination because the hospital had acknowledged that the woman was miscarrying. There is a need to put in place legislation and arguably this has been the case for almost 20 years. On this sad day for this family, will the Taoiseach simply indicate to the House when that legislation will come before the Dáil?

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