Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many difficult questions were posed in the referendum. There were questions that I, and I suspect many other people, found difficult. One of the easiest questions that I was asked in various media interviews was whether I would accept the will of the people if this referendum was passed. That was the easiest question. Of course we would do that. That is our absolute obligation in this Dáil. This should not even be an issue. It is surprising to me that it was an issue with some people during the campaign, and apparently it is still an issue with some people today. The truth is, and all the evidence shows, that people have different views on abortion and people recognise that others may have different views on abortion. This is clear. The vast majority of people accept that there are alternative positions in this regard. In a democratic society there is only one way to reconcile those views, which is to have a referendum where the country can decide after the people have listened to numerous debates with every side's point of view put forward. I believe that everyone's view was put across fairly in the broadcast and print media, and then the country made its decision. It is now our role in Dáil Éireann, as my colleague Deputy Donnelly has said, to implement exactly the will of the people as expressed in the referendum.

It should be noted that the turnout went from around 50% in previous polls to two thirds of the public turning out, which shows that a large section of the population had thought long and hard about the issue. They may have had contrary views before this referendum and changed those views. Changing a view is one of the hardest things for a politician to do because he or she may be accused of making a U-turn. This, however, is what many Irish voters did and they voted with difficulty. Voters on the No and the Yes sides voted with difficulty.

It was very clear, however, what the outcome of the referendum would mean, that the heads of the Bill, as put forward by the Government at the time would be enacted. My colleague, Deputy Donnelly, who has studied the Bill in depth, and all of us who have read it accept that what is being put forward in the Dáil today is what was put before the people, and it is what the people voted on. We have an obligation to do that with minimum amendment. At this point we are getting so much unfair pressure from both sides of the debate to change things. This is because of the difficulty of the issue, because of the huge national debate the referendum caused, and because of the information that was put out to people regarding what was contained in the heads of the Bill. The debates were listed and the information was listed, so everyone knew what this was about. No one can say that they did not know what they were voting on.

We need to pass this legislation, implement the will of the people and let that happen. We need to concentrate on other important issues also, so let us just do this. We have no other option.

While I support conscientious objection, I understand that the provisions in the Bill for conscientious objection are almost identical to the provisions in the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act 2013. I had not heard of this being an issue then. In fact, certain amendments that were tabled by certain Senators - I was in the Seanad at the time - would be criticised today because they are not in accordance with today's argument. I do accept that there are people who have serious objections, but the idea that a clinician would stay silent when a person raises the issue is simply not credible. The doctor has the absolute right not to facilitate this, but I do not believe he or she has the right to close the door on a woman thereafter.

There has been a debate in the Dáil on the ancillary recommendations and on sex education, but that was a very short Private Members' motion. There has been extensive debate around sex education provision in schools at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Skills. Having looked at the evidence as it has been put before us, I have no doubt that there is a major problem in the provision of sex education and who might provide it. The Department of Education and Skills does not regulate anyone who comes into schools in that regard, be it for sex education or sports clubs and so on. The Department plays no role in setting out who can come into our schools to teach children on a range of issues, not just for sex education. That has to change but it cannot be done simply as an attack on the ethos of the school. It can be combined to ensure that children are taught in a non-ethos way about fact-based sex education. That has to happen. This needs resources primarily. One of the problems we have with education currently is the constant pressure that schools and teachers can do that. The responsibility for this type of education is not just on schools. Our entire society, and especially families, has a responsibility to inform young people. If we ask schools to do it then they need to be resourced. It is not enough that we make laws and motions in Dáil Éireann and put the burden onto schools. That cannot be done and they need to be resourced properly.

This legislation has to pass. The people are sovereign in this State. The Dáil is not sovereign. This Dáil is not like the House of Commons. It is a very different system. People who are pressurising us at the moment about changing the Bill need to recognise that the people are sovereign.

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