Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

That is a fact. We have had bodies that are hardly the most radical, such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International, the National Women’s Council, the Irish Family Planning Association, as well as multiple legal people, telling the Government that this can be done under the Constitution. The Attorney General is one person.

The Taoiseach is correct that Article 15 indicates we cannot introduce measures “repugnant” to the Constitution. “Repugnant” means something which is clearly and undeniably unconstitutional. This is clearly and undeniably not such a case. How do I know this? The previous Attorney General argued exactly as I am now arguing that this is entirely within the remit of the eighth amendment to be legislated for now.

What the Taoiseach has done is a cop-out. If he believes the Constitution is a problem and he wants to help the families, as some of his backbenchers and Ministers have said, what will he do about it? How does he justify the fact that before Christmas, when I tabled a precise Bill for constitutional amendment, the Government voted against it? Is the Taoiseach now telling us that in the spate of referenda planned for the spring, this will be included? If he is not saying this, he is letting down these families and, quite frankly, he is a hypocrite.

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