Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning's newspapers and last night's news programmes carried heartbreaking reports about an evolving situation in a hospital in the midlands. Our thoughts must be with the family of the woman involved. When asked about the situation yesterday, the Taoiseach stated that he was aware of the case and that, while it was difficult, now is not the time for constitutional change. On Tuesday evening, the Minister for Health commented in this House that current law is too restrictive and, while he did not mention the case in Mullingar, it must have been to the forefront in his mind. Can the Tánaiste confirm whether this case was discussed by the Cabinet at any stage this week and if she or her Cabinet colleagues were aware of it? Can she also confirm the Taoiseach's remark that the Government does not intend to review the legislation in this area?

See this speech in context