Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support Senator Rónán Mullen's amendment to the Order of Business on what could be described as a national scandal. Some €3 million is made available by the HSE each year to the crisis pregnancy counselling service. As previously reported, the information being provided, particularly through the Irish Family Planning Association, appears to be putting women's lives at risk. This is according to medical evidence and medical reports. In addition, serious questions need to be asked of the Minister for Health and the HSE. We must appreciate that the current CEO of the HSE is the previous chief executive of the Irish Family Planning Association. There are questions to be asked in this regard also. There is a need for an independent investigation. Can the HSE investigate itself on this issue? Time has shown it cannot. It is over eight months since it initiated the inquiry. A Garda inquiry was running in parallel, but there have been no answers to date.