Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, the amendment in front of us does not incorporate the wording that is in the Medical Council guidelines. Of course, if the Minister agreed in principle, that issue could be dealt with very simply. The Minister could give us an undertaking here that when he goes to the Seanad, he will bring forward an amendment that would bring what he says is there, what I accept is there and what most of us know is there and stop it being changed without the will of this House but put in statute law. Otherwise we are at the discretion of the Medical Council, which could change without coming back to the Oireachtas, which the people said was to make the law in this case. The constitutional amendment said that the power to make the law in this case would lie with the Oireachtas, not with the Medical Council. I would favour the withdrawal of this amendment if the Minister gave us an undertaking to bring an amendment to the Seanad incorporating what he said is in the Medical Council guidelines, putting them into statute law and bringing it back for what would effectively be five minutes here once the Bill goes through the Seanad.

See this speech in context