Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. The Green Party will be supporting it. My colleagues in our Technical Group, the Social Democrats, have asked me to express their support for the Bill but, owing to the change in speaking arrangements tonight, they did not get an opportunity to speak.

Tonight, we have an opportunity, in small way, to ease the suffering of parents going on an horrific personal journey, a journey with an inevitable, heartbreaking conclusion. Currently, parents facing a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality and trying to deal with this extremely difficult situation have their upset compounded by their being forced to travel abroad, often feeling like they are sneaking away rather than being closely supported by their families in their own country and by the trusted doctors and nurses on this difficult journey with them. This needs to change. These couples need practical support by translating words, however genuine, into doing our utmost to take action. They need the type of support that many of our medical professionals want to give them. Doctors are powerless, however, and the best they can do is refer these couples to foreign jurisdictions.

In this debate this evening, I have heard some legalistic concerns articulated and relied upon as a reason to oppose the Bill. These concerns are largely misplaced because, in some respects, the Bill represents a real response by its proposers and supporters to address truly desperate, dreadful circumstances that they want to see end as soon as possible. It is, in essence, a type of declaratory action taken in the Dáil. If it passes through the Houses of the Oireachtas, there will be a safety valve in place. Our Constitution provides that the President, if he has concerns, may refer the Bill directly to the Supreme Court, which can pronounce on it and, perhaps, lay out guidelines. In doing so, perhaps the Supreme Court could take into consideration the democratic will of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

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