Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Even at this late stage, I call on the Minister, a new Minister with no baggage coming into this portfolio, to condemn what has come to light regarding the abuses that have taken place in IFPA-run counselling centres. He was well able to use very strong words on the other side of the equation tonight and rightly so. Surely he has to have some bit of moral standing in the other area as well. Some passing remark about general concern regarding poor standards in counselling provision will not suffice. The Minister for Health owes it to women who received nothing short of life-endangering advice from the IFPA to condemn in the strongest possible terms what the IFPA did and to commit to looking most closely at what has gone on in IFPA centres. He did condemn the other side very robustly.

I propose a further amendment to this Bill to ensure that pregnancy counselling agencies cannot be involved in political campaigning. That is very important and nobody on any side of the House has referred to this. The difficulty arises in framing the law to rule out the possibility of groups like the IFPA campaigning for changes to the Constitution, including repeal of the eighth amendment, while also supposedly acting as impartial counselling providers. That cannot happen. Again, I wholeheartedly support the idea of fact-based impartial counselling. That is vital. However, there is a breathtaking hypocrisy and double standard behind today’s proposal which is clearly motivated by a desire to single out anti-abortion groups, while giving a complete and unjustified clean bill of health to radical pro-choice groups. The fact that the Minister for Health or his predecessor have never publicly criticised what went on at the IFPA sums up everything I am saying. It is not too late for the Minister, Deputy Harris, to do so. The public is waiting for him to correct his view and his very clear lapse and omission. He used very strong and extreme words here this evening such as "repulsive", "shameless", "despicable" and "disgusting".

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