Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A new survey by Amárach Research shows that more than 80% of Irish people, or eight out of ten, believe that parliamentarians should have the right to a free vote on conscience grounds on the proposed abortion legislation. It is an issue that is exercising many people at this time. Young people in particular are shocked that parliamentarians are not entitled to a free vote on this fundamental issue of morality and life.

Will the Leader ask the Taoiseach to come to the House for a debate on the right to conscientious objection on moral issues? This should be par for the course in a democracy and within political parties. Indeed it is a mark of a mature democracy. The Whip system is preventing that from happening and is impeding critical thinking on reasoned and informed conscience grounds. The Whip system is a very dangerous weapon when it is used to whip people's thinking into line on serious conscience issues to do with life and death. After all, what is a democracy without freedom of conscience? We are appointed to the Oireachtas, either by direct or indirect elections, yet when it comes to serious moral issues such as this we are told to leave our brains outside the door. The Irish people do not want us to do so. They have spoken in this research and eight out of ten of them support the right to conscientious objection. I ask for a considered debate on this issue.