Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies for their thoughtful and considered contributions to this discussion. We have heard many differing views and they will be useful in informing tomorrow's Government decision on the option to be pursued to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C v. Ireland case. To conclude this discussion, I restate the Government's commitment to implement this judgment and to bring the required legal clarity to the issue of lawful abortion in Ireland. The decision by the Government will be within the confines of Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution and its interpretation by the Supreme Court. The joint committee on health and children, as was mentioned by Deputy Regina Doherty, will commence its public hearings on the implementation of the options chosen by the Government before the resumption of the Dáil in January. We all look forward to that.

It is important to restate the position. I listened to the contributions and I would not disagree with the majority of them. When the Government decides to legislate or to legislate with regulations and I believe it will be a mixture of both - it is no longer an option to do nothing - it will not meet the expectation of the majority of Irish people. The eighth amendment to the Constitution and the Supreme Court's decision leave us in a position that all we can do is legislate or regulate in such a restrictive manner that there will be another case that will demand our attention in the future. People expect that when the Government acts in this case its action will be encompassing and deal with the issues that face women every day of the week, but that is not the case. What we will be able to do will be so limited that there will be another case.

When are we going to mature? My position is very like that of the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. I am not on one side or the other. Indeed, as the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, correctly said, the middle ground needs to find its voice, and I am very much on that ground. When will we give doctors and the people who treat women certainty in terms of health? We all know that women have completed a pregnancy despite medical advice that it would cause serious impairment of their health for the rest of their lives. It is very difficult to know when one's health deteriorates to such an extent that it will result in one's life being lost. That is the difficulty. When will we allow women, in consultation with their medical teams, to make decisions for themselves?

The key to all of this debate is the issue of trust. Do we trust our mother, sister, aunt, friend, wife or partner or are we putting women in a position that they will have to feign insanity to do what they believe is the right thing? Nobody wants termination of pregnancy as a contraceptive. However, trust is central to this argument. We will now either legislate or legislate with regulations. Mark my words, however, there will be another incident, and we will have to return and confront this issue again. What we are about to do is far too narrow.

I genuinely appreciate everybody's point of view on this issue, but more tolerance and debate will be necessary because it is not over yet.

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