Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me this opportunity to respond to the debate. Before I do so, I would like to add my voice to the expressions of sympathy this House has extended in the course of this debate and elsewhere to Mr. Halappanavar and his extended family for their tragic loss in Galway.

As the Minister for Health said yesterday, it is incumbent on us as public representatives to take action to make sure the lives of pregnant women are protected and that the clinicians who provide care to them can operate within a clear and ethical legal framework. As we heard during last night's debate, the Minister for Health intends to recommend the publication of the report of the expert group on the A, B and C v. Ireland judgment of the European Court of Human Rights immediately following next week's Cabinet meeting.

The European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C case criticised the legal position in Ireland as offering no accessible and effective procedure to enable a pregnant woman to establish if she qualifies for a lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with Irish law as it currently stands and that, therefore, legal clarity was required. Manifestly, legal clarity is required; there can be no doubt about that and I have not heard a single person in the course of this debate who would disagree with the necessity for legal clarity to be brought to the situation arising from the case in the European Court of Human Rights.

When we last debated this issue in April, the Dáil agreed to await the outcome of the deliberations of the expert group.

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