Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with what was said by the Chief Whip in The Irish Times in the past fortnight where he indicated that the lack of reform was deplorable on the part of the Government. I accept that when the Chief Whip and all the other Whips meet we can work out an agreement. We can come up with proposals. However, the Chief Whip is a creature of Government and the difficulty is that when he goes back to the Government he has to do what the Government tells him. Clearly, the Government tells him to talk about reform but under no circumstances to deliver any reform.

The Minister of State spoke about the deliberations of the Joint Committee on Health and Children over the six days that it met on the heads of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill. Great credit is due to Deputy Buttimer for the manner in which he conducted the hearings. People came in, they had their say, there was dignity, there was mutual respect on all sides but at the end of the day what was said at the inquiry had no impact, good, bad or indifferent, on the legislation that was produced.

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