Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

That was a very short and scant-in-detail report on the Citizens Assembly. It seems that the Taoiseach is determined to go ahead with this charade. The word on the street is that it is a delaying tactic, a Craggy Island solution to a problem. It flies in the face of polls. The Taoiseach always eschews polls, yet the Government is using a polling company to pick 99 people. All of the other polls that have been done involved more than 99 people. The last Amnesty poll showed that 87% of people wanted an increased availability of abortion under a range of circumstances and 38% of people expressed themselves as being fully pro-choice. To another question in the Amnesty poll - I will be interested in the Taoiseach's response to this point - 68% of people stated that we should trust women when they say that they need an abortion. That is what this is about.

Will the Taoiseach join me in showing solidarity with the tens of thousands of people who struck and protested in Poland yesterday against a similar law to the eighth amendment that attempted to ban abortion in Poland completely? The Catholic church and its representatives in the Polish Parliament are behind this. There will be an outcry against it in Poland. One of the luxuries that the Taoiseach has, and one of the reasons that he has been able to sweep this issue under the carpet in his 41 years here, is that our country does not have backstreet abortions. Instead, we have the luxury of England being just one hour away. However, we do have abortion.

Three women per day carry out abortions in their own bedrooms. How do we know this? We know because the website www.womenonweb.orgtells us three Irish women contact it every day to access abortion pills online. Approximately 1,000 abortions take place illegally in this State. The real question is whether we are going to keep them illegal or allow them to become legal.

I have three questions on the citizens' assembly. The Taoiseach has outlined two meetings that will take place but will he give a clear timeline for the citizens' assembly? When will it report to a committee and this House with recommendations? The second question relates to witnesses and there is much concern about this among various groups. What will be the composition of this expert group of witnesses? For example, it is vital they not all be lawyers or constitutional experts. They must include experts in women's health, obviously, but there should be independent witnesses as well as those who have views and an input into this. For example, will the United Nations be asked to give testimony on this issue, as it has given its views on it? Will representatives of the World Health Organization be present? Will women's organisations, pro-choice groups and others with a strong view also be asked to participate? What Dáil committee will the recommendations go back to? Will the Taoiseach set up a special new Dáil committee or will it be referred to a health committee? Where will it go before coming to the floor of the Dáil?

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