Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I accept the sincerity of her view. Whether people agree or disagree with her view, it is well known in this House. We should not engage in revisionism. An awful lot has happened. We had a constitutional ban on abortion. We had the eighth amendment. This House was not empowered to legislate at all. We all went out, across party lines, and campaigned. It is kind of amazing now to think that actually happened, given there was a minority Government. People pulled together and we brought about good societal change.

Since then, we have managed to see the services embed. We have managed to see many thousands of women who previously would have travelled or been denied access to healthcare be able to access healthcare in this country. The statistics are published and laid before this House each and every year. We have established My Options. It is a really important, free, non-judgmental service that provides people with information and access to counselling, as well as advice on how they can access the services that are legal within this country. We have seen the number of hospitals providing the service significantly increase. We have seen the number of community providers increase and geographic access across the country thereby improve. From a legislative point of view, we have prioritised safe access zones. There was a view in this House that we needed to move on that issue. This House passed the legislation. It is on Committee Stage in the Seanad and it is hoped to conclude that Stage this evening.

We put in place a review clause. Yes, I did that. I remember being in the committee with the Deputy when we put in place that review clause. There was a view in the committee, across party lines, that we should do so. The review has come back with many recommendations. A lot of them have already been enacted in the operational space. They have been good recommendations to help to improve the clinical delivery of the service. Some of the recommendations are legislative in nature. The Government will give them due consideration, as I am sure will the Opposition parties.

I note the Deputy's comment regarding her own Bill. She has every right to bring it forward. I do not recall the figures but my memory is that it passed because a majority, or certainly a large number of Deputies, abstained out of respect for wanting the review to be carried out. Factually, the Bill passed Second Stage in the House. That is true. Without speaking for the Deputy, I think it is fair to say her Bill would go significantly further than the review. She is very clear about wanting to abolish the 12-week limit altogether. That is her position. It is not mine and it is not the position we set out when we went before the people. The Deputy has interacted with the health committee, as is her right. It is a matter for the committee to decide how it wishes to proceed with that request. I have outlined very clearly what the Government intends to do, which is to pass the safe access zones legislation, ensure the services are provided in the 19 hospitals, implement the operational recommendations and engage with the Minister for Health and the Cabinet committee on health on the legislative recommendations.

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