Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is a very difficult issue for anybody to speak on. I know that everyone who has spoken on this thus far has his or her individual views on and feelings about it. This has been a very divisive issue in Ireland over a very long period of years. If I would ask for one thing - Deputy Mattie McGrath spoke about it earlier - it would be to have a calm debate on this issue. This is the first time since I was elected to the Oireachtas in 2002 that this issue has been debated so extensively.

When I speak to some colleagues who have been here for 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 years, they tell me their own stories. They remember the most recent constitutional referendum on abortion and how difficult and emotive it was. I have no doubt that what happened then will happen again because, as many Deputies have said, there are people on both sides of the argument who have very strong views - on the pro-life and pro-choice sides. We as Members of this House have a very difficult decision to make. Some people can make it easily while others make it with very heavy hearts. We must strike the right chord between everybody in the House and on both sides and I believe that can be done if we listen to each other's views on this issue.

Deputy Timmins said something that struck a chord with me. I heard it recently on the radio. It is when people query what a man would know about abortion, having babies, maternity units, etc. We have come a very long way in Ireland over a long period of years. I am a father of two children and was present at both births. I have seen the very thin line regarding what can happen and nature at work. It is unbelievable. One looks at this with a totally different perspective when one has children and sees their birth and what can go wrong. One can see things going very smoothly and things going very wrong very quickly. The most important thing is the health and well-being of the mother. It is paramount in this debate.

It is a very thin line when one sees the birth of any child and one does look at it in a totally different way. In another way, one can see the risks involved in the birth of a child. Deputy Mattie McGrath said that the birth of a child is probably one of the happiest moments in one's life and there is no doubt this is true. It is something one will always remember. One remembers what time your child was born at, the date of birth, who was there, whether it was morning or night, whether it was raining, the time one brought one's partner or wife to the hospital, who delivered the child and the nurses who were there. I have no doubt that every father and mother across the world remembers and relives that on many occasions.

This Government has a duty to listen to every side of the argument.

The Government is doing so. When the expert group published its report a number of weeks ago the Government decided to debate it in the Chamber so all Members could give their views after which, prior to Christmas, the Government would come forward with an option. It will then bring experts before an Oireachtas committee to see what is the best way forward.

I have no doubt it will be one of the most difficult decisions I will make, and this will also be true for other Deputies from my party. I know Labour Party Deputies see it differently and I respect their views. I hope those on the other side respect our views. I ask for respect and that people do not push down our necks what we have to do. We must take our time on this and look at it from different angles to ensure we make the right decision. The decision we will make will affect many other people around the person about whom we are making the decision. I have reservations about parts of it, but in having these reservations I believe we are not rushing this and that we will make the right decision.

Deputy Kyne stated he has never received as much correspondence about an issue as he has about this one. I can state the same. I have received more correspondence on this issue than I have on any other issue since becoming a Member of the House.

We know what happened in Galway a number of weeks ago, and I expressed my sadness and sympathy to the husband of Savita Halappanavar because I can imagine what he went through over those days and what he has been going through since. However, we must wait for the true facts to come out before jumping to any conclusions. I know Ireland has changed in recent weeks, and conservative people have spoken to me about how sad it was, and it was terrible. That husband was expecting a wife and child to come out of hospital healthy, but unfortunately this did not happen. It shows the very thin line that is there and the risks which exist and what consultants, gynaecologists, nurses and midwives go through on a daily basis. They do a very difficult job because they help another life to come into the world and we must respect the work they do and respect the decisions they make on a daily basis.

In saying all of this, it goes back to the very difficult decision we must make. However, I have confidence the Government can strike the right chord and listen to all Members of the House. We will not rush it. There are many legal and medical complexities in the A, B and C v. Ireland case, the X case and the area of abortion. I hope all of these complexities are well examined before any decision is made. This is a very difficult issue for everybody to speak on and if there is one issue on which people speak from their heart it is this one. I have listened to the debate and those who contributed spoke from their hearts.

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