Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Sinn Féin Party has decided to use its Private Members' time to table a motion on this subject, as is its prerogative. I might say to Deputy Higgins that we waited for 20 years to deal with the business of protecting children and their rights and this now has been dealt with and decided on by the people within 18 months. The Administration, as part of the programme for Government, undertook to commission an expert group report to present the options that are available to the Government to deal with the question of the A, B and C case decided by the European Court of Human Rights, with particular regard to the C case, in which the inadequacy concerned the lack of clarity and definition of the circumstances under which a termination medically would be available in a hospital to a woman in that situation. The Minister only received the report last week and it is a report that requires some consideration. The Minister will bring the report to the Government next Tuesday and on his recommendation, the Government will decide to publish the report. That is only right and proper.

However, Deputy Higgins should note this is an issue with which the Government will deal with sensitivity, pragmatism and realism. There is a clear need to provide clarity and confidence in the medical circumstances and the legality of what happens in hospitals where such situations arise. Moreover, people who go through college and become doctors and consultants and who then are faced with a situation in which they must make a decision require certainty about what they are doing. In that sense, the report will come before the Government next Tuesday.

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