Results 22,781-22,800 of 46,014 for speaker:Simon Harris

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: No, one can use ordinary measures. I am genuinely not saying that. I am sorry. I know it has been a long day for all of us in here. Perhaps I have not been clear enough. We are putting this in to make sure that a doctor has an extra protection. Let us be honest; doctors know what viability is. They make decisions on whether a foetus is viable. They know these things. This will...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: That is what we are trying to avoid. We are trying to avoid that extra chilling factor which the doctor might have in cases where there is something medical that could keep a foetus alive but where, as the Deputy rightly says, the foetus would never become a viable baby. That is what we are trying to get to. I am not sure any of us is clear whether we have gotten there. I am convinced...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: We have been.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is entirely correct. The problem is all these words are somewhat subjective. The words "reasonable", "extraordinary" and "ordinary" are subjective. The most important point Deputy O'Connell made in this useful and informative discussion is what it will mean in the hospital setting and to the doctors? Will it achieve what I am endeavouring for it to achieve? Will it not? We...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: I am certainly happy to keep going.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: We will come back at 7.10 p.m. and sit for an hour?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Can we take them thematically? This is a very big section and there are many big-----

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Yes, that is in accordance with the note I circulated.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: That is in the next one.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: The Deputies who tabled amendments are correct in that we can do better in this section. Deputy Coppinger pointed out that many Deputies have tried to do better in slightly different ways but we are all trying to arrive at the same landing point. The amendments tabled by Deputies O'Connell and Donnelly are similar in that the idea that "examination" has a connotation that the woman's views...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: That is correct.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Absolutely, termination of pregnancy services in Ireland is not going to be done by tele-medicine. There will be a 24-7 telephone line that will be able to advise and signpost and I am sure we will get to that discussion.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Yes, there is. It does not apply at the moment to head 17, so it would create an inconsistency in the Bill. That is a technical point. I do not mean this smartly, but I am not 100% sure which amendment to accept. The amendments from Deputies O'Connell, Donnelly, Coppinger and Daly are all trying to achieve the same objective. Which of us together can get the best wording is something we...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: My instinctive position is that the word "examination" is the crux of the concern. If there is a better word which reflects what the Deputies are trying to say, namely, that there will be a consultation and that the woman's views matter, I would like to try to use that word. Obviously, however, I need to do so in a way that is legally operable.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Deputy Donnelly is from Wicklow and Deputy O'Connell is from Fine Gael. I do not know what to do.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: Yes, we are. Obviously, medical consent will apply. No one is suggesting otherwise, but there will be no forced terminations and of course the woman's views matter and must be taken on board. The termination will only happen if that is the decision at which the woman arrives. I accept the point Deputy O'Connell is making to the effect that the language - and use of the word "examination"...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: I am not going to go into what I am going to work on between now and Report Stage and I think my colleagues understand that. The phrase "consultation with" sounds good to me, as a layperson. If there is a medical emergency or if the woman is unconscious-----

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: We need to work that bit out.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: I do not disagree with what Deputy Coppinger is trying to achieve.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Simon Harris: It is coming up next. We are nearly there.