Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

When myself and Deputies Wallace and Joan Collins moved our Bill earlier this year, supported by the United Left Alliance, Savita Halappanavar was not even pregnant, now she is dead. The situation that we warned about at that time, and hoped would never happen, has happened. I am boiling mad that this has occurred in this country. It would appear that this beautiful young woman is dead as a result only of political cowardice. The failure of successive Governments, including this Government, to provide for a woman's constitutional right to an abortion where her life is in danger is absolutely outrageous.

Today we have been inundated by the world's media about this situation and by citizens of every age, gender and class. They have asked how this could happen in modern-day Ireland. When we moved the Bill in April we were informed that it would not happen, that our Bill was unnecessary and that a woman's life was always protected in Ireland. The people who said that were wrong. The people who asked us to wait for the expert group to produce its report in July - I understand the Minister of Health received it last night - were wrong too.

Death and loss are always tragic but when a death occurs for no reason it is truly and utterly heartbreaking and it enters the realm of being a crime. The Taoiseach told us this morning that Savita Halappanavar could not be brought back and that nothing we could do would undo that fact and that is clearly true. However, we can provide her family with answers and give citizens in this country an assurance that it will never happen to any other woman again. We can only do this if we act now. Will the Minister assure us that there are no similar cases in existence? Will he instruct a full investigation of all maternity hospitals? I understand there were two deaths in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital recently. Will the Minister act now on secure independent review procedures for maternal deaths in our maternity hospitals? Will the Minister legislate now?

See this speech in context