Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to support the legislation on the holding of a referendum and it is important that a referendum commission is given the chance to prepare the necessary information. However, what we are being asked to do here is too big a leap for me. Two weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that the only right the unborn had in the Constitution is the right to life but now that it has been stated by the Supreme Court, we are moving to take it away. That right to life will be replaced by a line to be inserted in Bunreacht na hÉireann conferring responsibility on this House to "provide by law for the regulation of the termination of pregnancies".

The associated legislation, which may be enacted if the referendum is passed, outlines the 12 week limit on terminations in many cases. I use the phrase "may be enacted" very deliberately because the sponsoring Minister cannot guarantee that he has the support of all his Government colleagues to pass the legislation, or that it will be a 12 week period. This is the heart of the issue. The certainty of protection for the unborn child and the mother in Bunreacht na hÉireann will be replaced by the uncertainty of subjecting it, or a future House, to the art of political negotiation which, by its nature, is uncertain and Byzantine. It can often depend on the make-up of a Dáil, which can change from election to election. I firmly believe the right of an unborn child or its mother deserves more than that and more than just being an agenda item for political negotiation.

The committee did a lot of work on this issue and many of the criticisms of it are unfair. Its members took on a job which many of us passed to them and its staff are the most experienced staff in this House. They should be exempt from the criticism that has been thrown at them. They made some interesting recommendations and I welcome the Minister's commitment in the form of the recruitment of extra gynaecology and obstetric consultants, of which we need 100. There is a recognition in the report of the difficulties in recruiting them but they are difficulties associated with issues around HR and pay, which the Minister can address. We also need the roll-out of perinatal mental health services and I welcome the Minister's commitment to that too. It is necessary for the Minister to outline a timeline for these so that equal credence is given to those recommendations as to the other recommendations the Minister is following.

The debate on the report, and on this referendum motion, has been respectful so far and people have listened to other opinions, which I hope continues. I hope the referendum commission will ensure it continues by providing the necessary information. At the heart of this debate are women and their unborn children and this needs to be remembered over the course of the debate in the coming months. Whatever the result, the Government must respect it, regardless of what some Ministers have stated over the past week.

See this speech in context