Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I thank all those who contributed to the debate on Second Stage of the Bill, Senators Fitzgerald, Prendergast, Hanafin, Callanan, Bacik, Norris, de Búrca, Coffey, Healy Eames, Corrigan, White, Ó Murchú, Ross, Twomey, Quinn, O'Toole and Callely. I am very grateful to them because this is an issue of profound importance.

It would be nice to have time to address issues and clarifications and give reassurances to Senators Fitzgerald, Norris and Bacik. This issue is moving very fast. It was once thought that only embryonic destroyed cells could be used to treat Parkinson's disease. There seem to be developments that offer hope and promise in the area of age-related macular degeneration, which may be possible using adult stem cells.

This is not the evening to examine every jot of the debate and to correct it. I do not come from a theological perspective, I come from a view, informed by science, that human life is present in its individuality and momentum from the earliest stage. As we are discussing human life with potential, we must move with great care. I am greatly reassured by the fact that no one tonight suggested that if we prohibit embryo destructive research we would delay by one day the cures we all hope for. I, too, hope for those cures and am greatly reassured by the fast-moving, positive developments that will, I hope, allow us to have those cures using ethical means. Ireland should be at the forefront of that and it would be a service to the world community if we opted exclusively for ethical research.

I was taken by the statement of a doctor who is an expert in this area and who said we should not demean the humanity we seek to heal. It was a wonderful injunction, issued modestly, and it invited us all to do the research and develop cures we can all live with.