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

This is another amendment that does not seek to change access to abortion in this country. All it seeks to do is collect information that is necessary to analyse how the service is being provided and to allow people to develop policy on how the service should perhaps change in time. The amendment seeks to broaden the level of information collected. In Britain, for example, a large amount of information is collected. That enables the health service, the government and people who are interested in the subject to analyse what is happening in the system. The development of proper certification and information would shine a light on how it is being delivered. That should be neutral, regardless of what side of the debate one is on. Whether one is pro-choice or pro-life, it is logical that we should have a good understanding of what is happening. This amendment seeks to collect information that would be collected elsewhere. It is hard to understand why the collection of information is a threat to anybody, so I ask the Government to consider supporting it.

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