Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Today marks the fifth anniversary of the repeal victory, a categoric and historic victory of a campaign that was run and led in particular by young women but by men and women throughout this country, the length and breadth, and east to west. That campaign really forced the politicians to sit up, wake up and smell the coffee. What people said at that time was, mostly: give women a choice and do not force them to travel aboard.

Five years on, we have the review from Ms Marie O’Shea. Marie O’Shea's review is categoric and clear in the recommendations that it makes. Tonight, we will bring a Bill before the Dáil to reform Ireland's abortion laws and, coincidentally, our Bill is mostly in line with the recommendations of Marie O’Shea. They include the following points: women whose health has been harmed by continuing with a pregnancy are being forced to travel abroad; two out of every five women who need abortion care because of foetal anomaly are being forced to travel abroad; teenagers who are less likely to access abortion within the rigid 12-week limit because they are less likely to realise they are pregnant due to erratic period times, and so on, are being forced to travel abroad; migrants are being left behind, particularly those who are undocumented asylum seekers, who face major barriers, including language barriers and difficulties; and women living with domestic abuse and disabled persons are being left behind.

We know from Marie O’Shea's report that around 200 women and girls every year since repeal have been forced to travel. Our response to that Bill is for the Government to try to put an amendment in the Bill to say “Park it for 12 months and we will look at it in 12 months time." During that 12 months, it is likely that at least another 200 women and girls will be forced to travel abroad. What baffles me is that it is the Government that commissioned the review. It was quite sensibly put into the legislation that a review must happen. The Minister, Deputy Simon Harris, at the time argued that we need to see in real time how this legislation actually plays out, is it fit for purpose and does it do what repeal has asked this country to do. It does not, and that is clear from the review, yet the Government is willing to park it for another 12 months. It is quite clear and very transparent that this is veiled cover for the people on the other side of the House not to touch this issue until we are facing into another election, and that this Dáil does not have the courage to face up to the results of its own commissioned review. It does not make sense why the Government would commission a review and then not look at it, take it seriously and deal with the recommendations within it. Our Bill attempts to do that but the Government is attempting to kick for touch and give cover to those in the Cabinet and those in the parties across the House who do not want to touch this issue, who never wanted to touch it, but were dragged kicking and screaming by a mass movement from below.

I would like the Tánaiste to address the issue of that amendment which will kick for touch and how disgraceful we believe it is that the Government thinks it is okay for hundreds more women and girls to have to travel over the next year.

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