Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute to the Minister for giving so much time to the House on an ongoing basis. Regardless of the legislation in question, he has always come before the House in his own right. As somebody who has probably called for his resignation more than once, it is something that needs to be said and it is appropriate that it come from somebody like me who is seen to oppose much of what he is trying to bring forward. It is genuine to say that in the time he has given to this House he has not only shown a great understanding of the legislative process and the importance of this House but also his belief that it is necessary to come here with an open mind, listen and, at times, change legislation. We genuinely thank him for this. He might have a word with his colleague, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who does not share the same understanding and appreciation of the House and its workings, as exemplified in his contribution on national radio today.

It is the intention of Fianna Fáil to have a free vote, as happened in the other House. It is also the view of all of us that the debate should be respectful and appreciative of everybody's views, regardless of what they may be. Unlike many of my contributions, I hope to reflect this now. When this issue was discussed at the hearings in this Chamber in January, I attended every minute of them. My colleague, Senator Jim Walsh, substituted for me at the later hearings on my behalf and that of our party. During that time and probably for about six months beforehand, it was a great briefing source for me because I must admit that I was the typical man of 40 odd years with a couple of young kids who had enjoyed a good social life when he was young and had not particularly read into this issue as the major issue of the day that I had to consider.

In the last year or so I have done that and I found the expert hearings last January very informative, to which I went with an open mind. As a Catholic, people would probably assume I went with a loaded agenda, but I did not. While it may be in line with Catholic teaching, I approach this issue from a secular point of view. I listened to the medical evidence from the most eminent names, whether in obstetrics, psychiatry or the legal profession, as well as from what we might call vested interest groups such as the pro-choice lobby, the pro-life lobby and so on. From listening to it objectively and not with a particular agenda, eminent members of the medical field were saying we absolutely had to legislate in this area, while others in the same field said we absolutely did not have to do so. We heard the legal people say we had to legislate, while others said we absolutely did not have to do so. There were varying points of view given by the psychiatrists on the broader issue, but they seemed to be in agreement that abortion was not a treatment for people suffering from suicidal ideation. There seemed to be absolute unanimity on that issue. They also used statistics on which I asked them to elaborate; it was the only question I asked, but I asked it of each group. They mentioned that for every 100 people who were suicidal in treatment and who they predicted would commit suicide, there would actually be only three.