Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am surprised to hear Senator Bacik defend Marie Stopes, of all organisations. Last year an Irish woman nearly died after a botched abortion by one of its doctors. This doctor did not even have indemnity insurance. He had been responsible for a death ten years earlier while he was working for the British pregnancy advisory service. The Sunday Business Post revealed how Marie Stopes appears to be abusing the law by its link with the organisation in Britain. These are not the people to put in charge of caring for women's health. What we see in the Northern situation is how an apparently narrow ground for abortion, namely, an alleged threat to life or health, gets used by people with an agenda. In the Republic we have successfully guaranteed necessary medical treatment to women at all times without recourse to abortion by always guaranteeing a woman's life and health, even when it is not possible to save her child. That approach of caring for two patients is the model we must follow and I hope it informs the Government's decisions and our debates in the coming weeks.

There is something inevitable about the proposal to cut the money going to fee-paying schools. The Minister for Education and Skills has to find ¤77 million out of ¤9 billion. It is understandable that fee-paying schools would be recognised as a legitimate target. However, the Department of Education and Skills has asked for details on how the schools are spending their fee income and it may emerge that some of the schools are not in a position to sustain cuts because of the good commitments they have made. I hope diversity will not be attacked, that Protestant schools in areas where they may be vulnerable will be exempted from any cuts and that serious consideration will be given to schools that cannot afford to sustain cuts. In the end, these parents and families cost the State less when it comes to educating their children because they are putting in more. That deserves credit rather than derision, and I hope the approach taken to the issue is not overly ideological.