Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I would like to follow on from the points that were made and also speak about amendment No. 97, which relates to the requirement to have an obstetrician on the review committee. Why the hell is there a requirement for an obstetrician when dealing with the threat of suicide? To be crude about it, the Minister of State or I or anybody else in here is as qualified as an obstetrician to certify whether somebody is suicidal or not. In other words, none of us is qualified. Unless one of us happens to be a psychiatrist, we are not qualified to assess suicidal ideation, so why is the obstetrician included? It is simply inexplicable and no justification has been provided for that inclusion. Many psychiatrists, including one I heard interviewed on the radio a few days ago, as well as Doctors for Choice, have questioned the objective of including a requirement either to have an obstetrician to certify suicidal ideation that might be a risk to the life of the mother or to have an obstetrician on the review committee in those cases. There is no reason for it, so one would have to draw the conclusion that it is a blocking requirement. It simply increases the possibility that a woman who is suicidal, with a consequent risk to her life, could have that risk certified by two psychiatrists, but then have it blocked by an obstetrician who has no qualification whatsoever to make any assessment of whether there is a risk to that woman's life due to her suicidal feelings. I would like the Minister of State to explain all that, but I do not think there is an explanation. I think it is unacceptable.

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