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

This is primarily a health matter and concerns a medical opinion. The status and qualification of the medical practitioners is particularly relevant. The amendments seek to broaden the remit as to what defines an appropriate medical practitioner.

Given that it is a relatively routine procedure in terms of termination and where suicide is a risk, it is a medical opinion which in any other scenario would be dictated by a psychiatrist and the person’s doctor. Who knows one’s medical condition better than one’s GP? They are eminently qualified to have an insight into one’s mental health and physical well-being. We make points about how great our maternity services are here. However, the chances of a pregnant woman meeting a gynaecologist or an obstetrician when accessing our public maternity services are few and far between.

If a pregnant woman meets them at all, she will be lucky. The idea that those people know the woman and her physical or mental health or well-being is an absolute joke. Her GP will be much better qualified to do that. The inclusion of an obstetrician to deal with mental health, an area in which such a person has no qualifications whatsoever, is actually an obstructionist clause inserted by the Government to make it more of an obstacle course for women who are suicidal. In that scenario, the last thing a woman needs is more barriers put in her way. The support services should be there to assist women and not to inhibit them. The purpose of our amendments is to make them more accessible.

It should be pointed out that the expert group, which was the Government's own idea, recommended that two medical practitioners were sufficient and that they should come from a broad pool of specialities, including both physical and mental health. Our amendments are in line with that. It broadens out the provision to give a better mix of medical practitioners to adjudicate on what are health and medical matters. We think they are eminently qualified.

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