Researchers argue that it is acceptable to destroy embryos as long as it is done in a good cause and the parents give consent. The deliberate destruction of innocent human life is fundamentally wrong and even the prospect of wonderful new cures does nothing to change that fact. It has been suggested that there would be no ethical problem if the research was limited to so-called spare embryos. The Tánaiste calls them supernumerary embryos. These are generally the by-product of in vitro fertilisation which are kept in frozen storage. It is said that these embryos will be disposed of anyway, once their shelf-life is over. I heard somebody from the Tánaiste's Department say that the embryos supposed to be used for experimentation would be destroyed at the end of the year anyway. I put it to the Tánaiste that many old people will die by the end of the year. Will we experiment on them too because they are from the other end of the spectrum? That argument does not hold water.