Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I raise a matter of major public interest, which has already been raised by Senator MacSharry: the recent exposé by Gemma O'Doherty in the Irish Independent which uncovered appalling malpractice in the State-funded crisis pregnancy counselling agencies and, in particular, the Irish Family Planning Association. I fear that Senator Bacik may be attempting to minimise the matter by not recognising that what is at issue is the endangering of women?s lives by State-funded agencies. Counsellors in these agencies have been shown to have acted illegally and with gross disregard for the safety of women in their care. In some cases, as has been pointed out, the advice given was dangerous to women?s lives.

The HSE has responded that it will conduct an investigation into the matter. This raises further questions, however, since the HSE is implicated in the malpractice, in some cases, and in the illegal activities.