Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last week in his closing statement, the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children explicitly stated the protection of life during pregnancy Bill as it stands only provides a framework but not the detail. He stated it is not the final Bill, it is not the new law and is a preliminary document. The next morning, less than 12 hours later, during an interview on national radio the Chairman explicitly stated provision will be made in the Bill for a woman to obtain an abortion on the grounds of risk of suicide during pregnancy. This is a deeply conflicting state of affairs and shows the Chairman had already decided to ignore the testimony of those psychiatrists and legal experts who have demonstrated such a provision is contrary to the best medical and legal practice. Such comments confirm to those of us who oppose the main thrust of the Bill that this process of so-called investigation had been marked by political expediency from the outset and was never serious in its intention to objectively examine the heads of the Bill.

Given that the Chairman of the Oireachtas committee acknowledged the purpose of the hearings was as a pre-legislative consultative process to facilitate further consideration when drafting the Bill, will the Taoiseach agree it is very worrying that the Chairman could, less than 24 hours later, undermine this very statement by laying out in the national media very specific elements which he states will be in the Bill regardless? Will the Taoiseach also agree that despite the impressive quality of the contributions from those on all sides of the debate who came before the committee, and those women hurt by abortion who unfortunately were not allowed come before us, it was wasted breath since the outcome was already determined?

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