Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A number of us met a group of people who were brave enough to put themselves out there. It seems that one must do that in this country. One must become visible for people to understand the issue. We met men and women in the AV room a few weeks ago and they told us of these harrowing situations. If it is not possible to deal with this in a constitutional way in this legislation, the least we could should get is a commitment that it will be dealt with in a timely fashion by way of a referendum. It is the least we can do to end this absolutely barbarous approach to a tragic time in people's lives. It was said to me that we cannot change the diagnosis but that we can change how women and couples are treated in this situation. I urge the Government, if it cannot accept this, to provide us with that commitment tonight.

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