Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Government did not know about the cases that have come up since it came to power. The programme for Government can change. The Labour Party had no problem in changing its policy on many other issues such as water charges and cuts to child benefit. The Tánaiste met Mr. Salil Shetty, but fatal foetal abnormality is not the only issue that needs to be addressed. A very small section of women are affected by the position. We need full-scale change. I do not know what the dilemma is for the Tánaiste. The matter is simple. We should delete a wording that should never have been inserted in the Constitution in the first place. The Tánaiste referred to the decision of the people in a free vote. The Government reran the referenda on the Lisbon and the Nice treaties; therefore, the notion that something cannot be put to the population for a second time is ludicrous.

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