Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am a little older than Deputy Coppinger, but I was in school when the eighth amendment of the Constitution was passed in 1983. I was unable to vote in the referendum but I recall campaigning - my parents were involved in the Labour Party - against it passing. I am not sure that the answer is necessarily a straightforward repeal of the eighth amendment, but I am certainly open to that discussion. However, we should bring forward legislation for a referendum on this issue. That should be the next step.

This Government has a record in this area. After 20 years it was the Government that legislated for the X case. Many Members who would have found it hard to vote for that legislation due to their personal views did so because they knew it was their duty to pass the legislation as a result of the Supreme Court judgment. They walked through the lobbies. That is our record as a Government.

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