Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support many of these amendments. They should be supported.

Amendment No. 18 is the one that I have in this grouping and there is much with which I do not disagree in what has been stated already. It is wrong to make the distinction between the right to health and the right to life and there is 50% of the population for whom that distinction is made, but I recognise that to provide for that would require a new referendum - which I would support - to delete the Eighth Amendment. I recognise that providing for that within the context of this legislation would not be consistent with the Constitution.

This Bill does the bare minimum of what could be done. There have been sweeping misrepresentations of what this Bill is supposed to do, with all sorts of suggestions such as the floodgates opening. It is highly restrictive.

Given that some organisations have engaged in a highly visible and highly funded political campaign, I question how we manage such campaigns in a democracy and where the money has come from, particularly for the likes of Youth Defence, which states that education and awareness is its remit. Education and awareness is not driving around with large billboards and stopping in inappropriate locations, with large campaigns of delivering leaflets, etc. If there is to be a proper democratic system, one must legislate for that. I question whether, if some of these organisations have charitable status, their remit has been exceeded. That is something that needs to be looked at in its own right. I accept the decision the Irish people made with the Eighth Amendment, although I did not like it. There are many decisions that I do not like, including the one that got me chucked out in 2007. Essentially, I try to stay within the Eighth Amendment, but I think there has been an interference with democracy in the way some of this campaign has been conducted.

This is the bare minimum. We will see further tragedies. It is a wrong and difficult to make the distinction between health and life. My amendment has not specifically addressed that issue but has tried to solve one particular aspect of what is provided for in the legislation.

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