Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will get through the Bill faster if people fully respect each other's motivations.

It is very important that minorities have a voice in the Chamber because if the Chamber does not reflect in some way the views that exist among the public, it will be a very dangerous place to be. Healthy respectful opposition is important in a functioning democracy. It is not the enemy in this debate. To be honest, many parties here have minority mandates. If they do not agree that a minority should have a voice here, surely the smaller parties should fold up their tents. The idea that we have to abide by the majority view is nonsense. We have to be able to give voice to the people on both sides of the debate outside the Chamber.

I was surprised by this issue being raised during the debate because my focus was on making sure we left no mother or child behind. I was surprised that after the debate was over, people came up to me on the street who were shocked by the fact they would have to pay for these abortions. I thought it was very much a minor issue in comparison to the major issue of abortion itself but that is the way of the world. That is what people's fears are about. Most of the fears relate to the issue of opportunity cost. There is always an opportunity cost. If we take €12 million out of a particular budget to pay for this, it will mean certain operations will not happen. It will mean some people will not get the healthcare to which they are entitled.

We are told that the State should not seek to control people on a socioeconomic basis. This Government controls people every day on a socioeconomic basis. It denies healthcare to hundreds of thousands of people on that basis. Some 2,500 children are waiting more than a year for their first mental health clinic appointment because of the control of the Government for socioeconomic reasons. It is incredible that people are travelling today for healthcare while at the same time money can be prioritised for abortion. Healthcare has different meanings for people. My belief is that healthcare saves lives and does not create preventable deaths. That is the difficulty with this.

If it were my amendment I would not have drafted it in that fashion. I would have sought to give people a conscientious objection or a freedom of conscience with regard to how their tax money is spent. If one pays for an operation like this, one is involved in the delivery of the operation and many constituents will feel that this operation is morally unjust. To force them to pay for something they do not agree with is not right. I have no desire to deny healthcare to anybody. Healthcare should be free at the point of delivery on the basis of need, not on the basis of income. I also believe, however, that people should be able to object in a conscientious fashion to the spending in which they are involved.

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