Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am grateful for the time and I wish to say some brief words about the Bill which amalgamates several different areas within it. As I stated previously, I am always somewhat wary when a Bill is introduced to the House with the words "miscellaneous provisions" in the title because usually it indicates that many rather significant changes are proposed. It is unfortunate that it has been introduced this late during the two or three week period in July in which we have before us a great volume of legislation. It does not allow the level of reflective or considered debate that would be preferable. Rushed drafting was evident in the Local Government (Charges) Bill debated yesterday, which will return to the House this evening. Changes were made by the Government to that Bill last night and I hope further changes will be made to address people's concerns about that Bill and to address such matters as the unintended inclusion of entities such as mobiles homes in its scope.

Turning to the Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, there is a range of areas, including a rather last minute amendment to the Mental Health Act, which other Members have addressed. I refer especially to Part 6 of the Bill and the dissolution of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. As I stated on the Order of Business, it is worth placing on the record our appreciation of the work of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, including Katherine Bulbulia and her staff, since its inception in 2001. I express the hope in the strongest terms that the functions the agency has been discharging during the past eight years will continue to be discharged, albeit under the auspices of the Department of Health and Children, to which I understand the functions will be transferred.

Questions must be asked about the dissolution of the agency and the transfer of its functions into the Department. What happened to the functions of health education when they became part of the Department of Health and Children? Will the Minister of State to address this point? As a mother of very young children and as someone who is very conscious of the need to take folic acid during pregnancy, I have a particular interest in this area. There has been a real concern that since the functions of health education were transferred to the Department of Health and Children we have seen very little in terms of public information campaigns on such matters as taking folic acid during pregnancy. I simply use the folic acid campaign as an example because I understand the importance of informing the public of the need to take folic acid during pregnancy to prevent spina bifida in young babies. The campaign has been handed over to the voluntary spina bifida organisation and it must now carry out a public information campaign but without adequate resourcing to do so. Will the Minister of State confirm if this is the case? If it is true I wish to hear it confirmed. It is an example of the difficulties which can arise when the functions of an agency specifically set up and with a particular health related agenda are transferred to the Department of Health and Children. Such functions may become lost in the bigger Department or they may be transferred inappropriately to bodies which do not have adequate resources to carry out the work. There is a strong argument to ensure the particular functions of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency remain fulfilled, albeit under the auspices of the Department of Health and Children. On the spina bifida issue, will the Minister of State provide the dates of the last public information campaign? This is of great concern to women looking to conceive or who are pregnant, many of whom are unaware of the evidence about the importance of taking folic acid during pregnancy.

I refer to the functions and work of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency. I am grateful to the agency for providing a briefing document, to which other colleagues referred during the debate. The document sets out in clear terms the important role of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency since its establishment. Without going into the detail of the origins of the agency and the position before its establishment, there was a clear need for some centralised regulatory mechanism to deal with the provision of information to women in crisis pregnancy. I know such a need existed because for a time in the late 1980s I provided such information as an officer of the Trinity College Students Union. I was taken to court and threatened with prison in 1989 simply for providing information to women in crisis pregnancy. I will never forget the experience as a 20 year old student of being placed in the position of being one of the only people openly giving information to women in crisis pregnancy. We had the very difficult and often traumatic experience of dealing with women, some younger and some older women, in crisis who rang and called in to us in great distress seeking information on the options available. In particular they sought information on where they could access termination of pregnancy or abortion abroad. This followed the Hamilton judgment in the Open Door Counselling case and there was a constitutional difficulty with the provision of such information and a suggestion that by providing it in breach of a court injunction we could have been regarded as being in breach of criminal law. There was also a threat of jail hanging over us for breach of an order, carrying with it a penal sanction.

I have a particular personal interest in noting appreciation for the work of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and ensuring information is available openly, publicly and in a professional manner to women facing crisis pregnancy. We should never again have to face a situation in which student union officers are the only people openly offering such information to women. Clearly there is a need for the provision of such information. All the figures provided by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency support this claim. Some 136,000 women among the present population have experienced crisis pregnancy. We know it affects women of all age groups and all social classes. That is my direct experience, having provided such information in the past.

Since its inception the Crisis Pregnancy Agency has been able to offer information in a more open, accessible and transparent manner and to ensure other agencies do so. The agency itself does not offer the information but it provides information on the agencies through which crisis pregnancy information may be made available. It has achieved remarkable results, which are testament to its work. It has achieved a decrease of 30% in the number of women travelling from Ireland to the United Kingdom for abortion. There has been a continuous seven year drop in the abortion rate, a very welcome outcome for all of us who have a concern about women's reproductive health. I speak as someone who has been on the board of the Irish Family Planning Association in the past. The IFPA has been a pioneer in its work, supporting women in crisis pregnancy throughout the years. Since the inception of the CPA there has been a 20% decrease in the number and rate of births to teenagers and a 43% decrease in the number of teenagers travelling from Ireland to the UK for abortion. These figures show the importance of having an agency in place or an entity which provides information for women in crisis pregnancy and to ensure such information is provided to such women in a professional, open, transparent and accessible manner.

For many years those on the right in the country, including the conservative side, and especially the Catholic Church, sought to create a framework where such information was not available to women. As a result when sex education and information on abortion and pregnancy options were not available, the abortion rate was higher and the rate of crisis pregnancy was higher. We all wish to see these rates decreased and it is very important we ensure there is a transparent and professional counselling agency that can provide such information. There is a good deal more I could say on the matter but I urge the Minister of State to ensure the functions so ably carried out by the agency do not simply disappear once it is dissolved through the Bill.