Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In case there is a sense that Senators on this side of the House are silent on the contribution made by my colleague, I would like to emphasise that we fully support this amendment. It seems to me from a reading of section 12 of the Bill that it would simply be a matter of a change of wording. Section 12 provides for cases in which "the death occurs during the first 7 days of life of a child born alive". All that is needed is a change in the wording. I fail to understand why there would be resistance to that, particularly in light of the information provided by Senator Walsh in this case, which sadly mirrors similar cases that will happen in the future. I hope there will not be many such cases.

I appreciate that the Minister of State is relatively new to this position. I understand from long experience in this House that new Ministers and Ministers of State tend to tread carefully when legislation is being processed in the Oireachtas. I do not mean to cast any reflection on the Minister of State when I say that. It is a natural reaction to ensure one does not make any mistakes or commit to something that is not feasible or legally possible. I would be exactly the same and I am sure everybody else would be.

I plead with the Minister of State to consider this. It seems that even though we are pushing against an open door on a personal basis, the Minister of State, wearing his ministerial hat, is somewhat resistant to Senator Walsh's argument. I feel there is merit in reflecting on the contribution he has made. Equally, there is merit in going back to the legal draftsman to look at the wording of this legislation. That would offer some crumb of comfort to the family that is immediately concerned about this, but also to other families involved as well. I do not wish to over-egg the pudding in this regard.