Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be frank with the Deputy. I think we had 28 items on this morning's Cabinet agenda. The Government dealt with all of them, including the approval of 1,000 to 1,500 jobs on the Kilkenny-Waterford border. This will have a significant employment impact on rural Ireland when the milk quotas are abolished. It is an example of strategic and important planning. The Cabinet began discussing the heads of the Bill dealing with the issue she mentioned but because of time constraints, including the need to be in this House, it was not possible to conclude our discussion. The Cabinet will resume its work on the matter after a little while and I hope the heads of the Bill can be published this evening. I hope the Deputy understands this is not the legislation but the heads of a Bill. They will go to an Oireachtas committee and everybody will have an opportunity to have a say on this sensitive matter. Work on the provisions of the Bill will continue both in parallel with and subsequent to the deliberations of the Cabinet sub-committee. It is my intention and hope that it will enacted before the House rises for the summer.

As I noted previously, this is a sensitive matter which has been around for a very long time. The intention of the Government is to address it within the parameters of the Constitution and strictly within the law. No new rights will be conferred but legal clarity and certainty will be given. This is about saving the lives of women and their unborn babies, with due regard to what the Constitution says and what was determined by the Supreme Court. Work on the matter will continue later this evening.

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