Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I again thank colleagues for their time and for tabling this debate. I start by acknowledging the work of healthcare workers providing these services. Many statements have been made here today about the services not being sufficiently accessible and being flawed. They are not sufficiently accessible and there are improvements we can make but I can tell colleagues that I talk directly to the people providing these services and they have fought very hard. They have dealt with some very difficult situations in their own workplaces, as the people who have provided these services, and some of this is alluded to in the report.

I want to do this as the Minister, but it is important for all of us in the Dáil to recognise we have healthcare workers right across the country, including GPs and those working in general practice and those working in the maternity hospitals, working very hard to provide these services. Colleagues who do not agree with the provision of these services made the point that the numbers have increased substantially. We do know these services are being accessed at significant levels. I wish to acknowledge the work of our healthcare providers in this context. This has not been an easy service to set up, as evidenced by the fact that it is still only available in 11 of the 19 hospitals concerned. I therefore acknowledge the work of our healthcare professionals in this regard.

To address some of the issues raised, it was repeatedly alleged that I or the Government somehow delayed this report. This is entirely false. The reviewer asked for more time to allow for a specific study to be completed in order that she could incorporate it into the final report. As I said, I got the report at the end of February, I think it was, and we moved on it very quickly. The debate tonight is an example of why we do need to take some time with this endeavour. There have been repeated references from those proposing this legislation to the will of the people and to the referendum. I campaigned hard for the repeal of the eighth amendment. When I knocked on doors in County Wicklow and other places, as many of us did, it was very much in the context of the heads of the Bill, flawed or not and whether we agreed with those proposals or not.

As we tease through any potential changes to the Bill, we have to keep these things in mind, namely what the right thing to do is in terms of the provision of health care and respecting the democratic wishes of the country. People did not vote to repeal the eighth in isolation. They voted to repeal the eighth in a very clear context of the heads of the Bill. I have spoken to people who voted to repeal the eighth with a very clear understanding of some of the measures in place that we are discussing. It is important that, as we debate this, as we must, that we keep those things in mind. We need to respect the democratic imperative, as well as the absolute need to provide the best possible services to women.

There have been several references to waiting 12 months to legislate. The Government has made no decisions in terms of timelines to legislate. There is a 12-month timed amendment in the Bill. In other words, the Bill, by the Government's amendment, would be deemed to have passed Second Stage 12 months from now. No decisions have been made in terms of Government legislation.

There has been a lot of talk, including by the proposers of the Bill, about the report from Marie O'Shea and that we have to implement what is in it. I studied the Bill in detail. It is not in line with the recommendations of the report. Perhaps one of the sections is in line with the report, in terms of decriminalisation. However, none of the other parts of the Bill would meet the recommendations in the report.

See this speech in context