Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government committed to reviewing the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in 2021. This deadline has already been missed. I welcome the appointment of an independent chair for the review but there is still considerable confusion about the nature of the process and its timeline. All we have heard about is the very limited budget of €60,000. We need a real review that examines the lived experience of women who have been forced to travel abroad for care, who have had to wait unnecessarily for three days and who faced other barriers, as well as the experiences of service providers. The programme for Government also commits to establishing exclusion zones but the spring legislative schedule shows that the Bill introducing safe zones has not moved forward in the past year. Instead, the Together for Safety group is working with Senators to progress a Bill in this area as the Government is failing. What is the status of the repeal review and the Government's plans on safe access zones?

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