Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I must say the Taoiseach has not provided a single answer. The words "active consideration" tell me nothing. This House deserves that the legislation be enacted as quickly as possible, because the findings of the inquest left no doubt whatsoever. The finding was that this woman was subjected to serious and shocking mismanagement of her treatment and that she was denied and deprived of proper medical treatment when she needed it. Dr. Peter Boylan has been very clear that the only thing that could have saved her early on was the granting of a termination when she requested it.

I do not know what the Taoiseach is waiting for. Is he waiting for his daughter, my daughter or someone else's wife to be in the same horrendous circumstance that Savita's husband described? Abortion is a health issue. It is a human rights issue. The Minister for Justice and Equality has clearly stated - and I agree with him - that this is also an issue of equality. I am not sure why the Taoiseach feels women's lives are less valuable than men's or why their health should be unnecessarily put at risk. That is what the findings delivered.

I have submitted a lot of questions about Bimbo Onanuga and about the compilation of our maternal mortality rates, which are at variance with the figures. The real figures show a higher rate than that indicated by the Central Statistics Office. This is a concern for all of us. At best, our figures equate to the EU average, rather than the rates we are always sounding on about. I will raise the issues, but the Taoiseach, as the key person in the State representing half of the population, might like to fast-track some of them.

Information which can be gleaned in coroners' reports and public hearings can inform our medical practice for the benefit of all women in the years to come. Delays in that regard do not help anybody.

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