Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The debate we are having on the report of the expert group on the judgment in the A, B and C v. Ireland case is very important. For the past two months, this has been in people's minds. At the forefront of our thoughts must be Savita Halappanavar and her family but also the State must address the findings of the expert review group and the Government must act. We must see action so there is an end to the procrastination.

As a child born ten weeks early during a crisis pregnancy in the 1960s, to me the gift of life has been given to me. I try to adhere to words of Swift, "May you live all the days of your life", because I have been the lucky one. My mother was in trouble, she knew that as a midwife herself, but she was not listened to at times and thankfully the birth resulted in a healthy child and she had three more children afterwards. That has shaped my philosophy and ideology in life. I am pro-life by ideology but we must park our ideologies in this debate.

I heard Deputy Flanagan speaking about single male colleagues and I am a single male man who will not have any children. That does not mean I cannot contribute to the debate. We must all listen to the views not just of women but of all people. Women are very important in this debate because if we do not listen to them, we will have lost a sense of empathy and understanding and we must try to seek consensus on this. That is why the establishment of the expert review group was important. It took less than a year to report and we are now debating that report. In discussing it, our debate and the Government decision, and the hearings in the Joint Committee on Health and Children, will stand as a template for how we as a society have learned from the debates in the 1980s.

I was a teenager then and I remember those debates vividly. I hope in our deliberations on this report we will bring legal clarity to the medical practitioners and women who find themselves in difficult circumstances. I compliment Mr. Justice Ryan and the group for the way in which the report is presented. It is easily readable and sets out its core ideas. As part of that process it was right and proper to wait for the report to be published so we could have a debate instead of jumping through hoops to satisfy one interest group over another. Our duty as legislators is to listen to all sides and not to engage in a knee jerk reaction on either side.

Chapter two of the report sets out clearly the current legal position, which has evolved over the last 30 years. From the 1861 Act, to the constitutional amendment, to the X case, to the provision of information, the report lays out the current legal parameters.

I welcome the publication by the Irish Catholic bishops' committee earlier this year on their day for life where they again reaffirmed that the Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb would be preferred to that of a mother and that by virtue of their common humanity the mother and her unborn baby are both sacred with an equal right to life. This report should be read by everybody in Irish society.

I join Deputy Charles Flanagan in saying that the Government should make this report available because the report will form the template of the debate we will have later. It is important that people are informed irrespective of their viewpoint. Chapter 3 of the report goes into great detail about the historical development of our law. It goes into each of the pertinent court cases, the background and the legislation involved in each referendum. It also looks at the all-party committee reports and Green Papers. It looks at each of the times when we, as a society, have considered the issue. For anybody who is unsure of the exact legal provisions or who wants a balanced and detailed overview of how our law has evolved and developed, chapters 2 and 3 are essential reading.

Before the report sets out its recommendations, it outlines four guiding principles. These principles have been based on a position that "the State is entitled and, indeed, obliged to regulate and monitor the exercise of [the existing constitutional provision] so as to ensure that the general constitutional prohibition on abortion is maintained". For those who are worried about the motives of the report and what will happen next, I hope that acknowledgement offers some comfort. The report is about working within our constitutional provision; it is not about changing our Constitution.

The termination of a pregnancy, whether by direct intervention or as a consequence of medical treatment, is a profound and serious matter. In all of our discussions, regardless of where we are coming from, we cannot lose sight of that. If medical professionals are saying they are faced with difficulties posed by our current situation, we have an obligation to make this position clear. We have heard from women who have faced similar difficult decisions, and we have an obligation to give them clarity. We must provide clarity and certainty, and we must end the mind games and vitriol. No matter where we stand in the debate, we must ensure the position is clear and unambiguous and that doctors know what they can and cannot do.

As citizens and legislators we must end the uncertainty, create certainty and give a sense of confidence to the medical professionals and the women of the country. As I said in the debate on the Private Members' Bill, let us put aside our political differences and ideology, whether we are pro-choice, pro-life or in the middle. The issue is far too important to be bedevilled by the playing of a game. For 30 years it has bedevilled Irish society and political life. There has been a failure on all sides to debate this issue maturely and act on it. It behoves all of us, who have an interest in humanity and life, to be calm and to debate the issue, as we are about to do as a Parliament and, more importantly, as a society. We need a thought-out, considered and timely response to the report of the expert group, and today is part of that process.

The Government has given its clear intent on what will happen in the next few months. Following this debate, the Government will decide on which options it will take. From there the parliamentary process will begin to consider the guidelines, statutory regulations or legislation as is required. In the new year I, as Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, and my colleagues on that committee will hold a series of meetings on 8 to 10 January. We will consult widely and listen, and we will debate maturely. We will do so in the interests of the people. That is why I, as Chairman of that committee, and my colleagues will not be found wanting. We will meet next Thursday in private session to discuss how we intend to proceed, and that will be done on a cross-party basis. Our hearings will be fair and there will be a process of dialogue to ensure a wide range of voices are heard. We will consult wisely and widely. People will be asked to make a contribution.

Today's debate is necessary for us as a society. I hope it has been a constructive debate. I pay tribute to the parliamentarians in this House who have been constructive. This issue is far too important to be used to try to score political points. The outcome of what we do will reflect our views as a society. I conclude by quoting the words of Martin Luther King: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

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