Joe O'Toole (Independent)

We need to deal with that issue. While criticising the Government for being laggardly, I understand it has given a commitment it will be done. However, having failed for years to get any movement from the Church leadership to move to protect abused children and to deal with perverted clerics, where that arose, is it anything short of outrageous to witness the antics from Armagh in the past 12 hours? It has taken my breath away it is so disgraceful and the people should be told. One mention of pregnancy termination and the Church leadership is galvanised into action, immediately ready to take it on. I ask the Leader if in the course of the day he would ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs to send a cable to Armagh to outline where we stand and let the cobbler stick to his last. They can do the praying up there and we will do the legislating down here. If we want to legislate for Sharia law or whatever kind of fundamentalism they want to peddle to us, we will give them a call when that arises. It is quite outrageous that we should find ourselves in that position. In the meantime, as Senator John Hanafin said yesterday, we are an independent republic and we will do our own business and we will not be lectured to by any fundamentalist, whether he is wearing a red hat in Armagh or a white hat in the Vatican. We should get our act together on this issue and adopt a clear line.

This is not an issue of abortion, this is an issue of protecting pregnant women whose lives are in danger. Whereas I would not have expected the Church leadership to be championing women's rights, I really did believe that when it came to a straight position where a woman's life was in danger that they would not stand in the way of the appropriate medical treatment in those situations. I find it outrageous. I believe the people will give a clear black and white answer if they ever are asked the question on this issue. I certainly would not shy away from it. I do not think we need a referendum or anything else on it but I think it is time that we gave a clear answer in these situations. I ask the Church to take a more humane attitude and show some Christian humanity in its response to this issue.