Mary Henry (Independent)

This week I attended the launch, by the Minister for Health and Children, of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency's strategy. The first five recommendations of the strategy are totally ignored and denigrated by the various actions that are being taken in the Book of Estimates. A considerable amount of money has been given to the Crisis Pregnancy Agency in order to reduce the level of crisis pregnancies. The first of the five recommendations, in response to a question on how the strategy will reduce the number of women with crisis pregnancies who opt for abortion, states that the agency will work to provide better supports for lone parents. This will certainly not be included in the proposals brought forward by the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy.