Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “in as economical a manner as possible;” down to and including “from the date of the first Assembly meeting;” and substitute the following: “

- the Assembly will first make a report and recommendation on the matter set out at (i) above to the Houses of the Oireachtas within three months from the date of the Assembly’s first sitting;

- on receipt of the report and recommendation on the matter set out at (i), the Houses will refer the report for consideration to a Committee of both Houses which will in turn bring its conclusions to the Houses for debate;

- the timeframe for the process whereby the report and recommendation set out at (i) is made to the Houses of the Oireachtas, its referral to a Committee of both Houses and its conclusions to the Houses for debate shall be no longer than three months in duration;”.

I would like to have acknowledged my anger and disgust over the fact that we have 60 minutes in which to discuss the very important issue of a citizens’ assembly. Three hours were allowed for a water services debate this morning in which absolutely no amendments were being proposed. There are three on the citizens’ assembly, yet we have but 60 minutes. It is an absolute disgrace.

I am proposing this amendment to the motion on the creation of the citizens’ assembly because I do not believe action on the eighth amendment can wait any longer. While I welcome the inclusion of a reference to dealing with the eighth amendment in A Programme for a Partnership Government, I would argue that the consideration of this issue by a citizens’ assembly should be permitted only if there is a clear timeline for the delivery of its report and recommendations, and eventual action on them by the Government.

The motion, in its current form, does not provide that clear timeline. It currently states that a citizens’ assembly is not required to deliver a report and recommendation on the eighth amendment until one year after its first sitting. It then states that if the assembly recommends the holding of a referendum, the Government will set a timeframe in which such a referendum will be held, without any reference to whether this would involve weeks, months or years. The Government has indicated the assembly will be up and running in October. This means it could be 2018 before we even have a referendum on the eighth amendment, if one is recommended by the assembly at all. This is absolutely unacceptable.

I do not believe there is a person in this room who is not aware of the impact of the eighth amendment on women in this country. We have all seen, heard and read the bravely recounted accounts of women who were forced to leave Ireland because what they needed could not be legally provided here. We have read the heartbreaking accounts of women who were delivered diagnoses of a fatal foetal abnormality and who could not be helped by a country that exported dealing with their devastation to other jurisdictions. Laws that have been criticised by Amnesty International and the United Nations for violating our international human rights obligations, and even by our own Minister for Health, are completely unacceptable. Some 160,000 women have been forced to travel out of Ireland for an abortion since the passage of the eighth amendment in 1983. Every year, 4,000 still travel. Every day that we put off addressing the eighth amendment is another on which 12 women will travel abroad because their country forces them to do so. If we wait two years for a referendum on the eighth amendment, 8,000 more women will have travelled. We do them and all the women in this State a disservice by not acting decisively to help them. This is why I am pushing this amendment today.

A six-month timeframe will allow for an assembly to deliberate on the many complex issues surrounding the eighth amendment and ample time for us, as legislators, to act on these recommendations. We cannot allow this issue to be kicked to touch any longer. If we are going to allow an assembly of our citizens to decide how to make progress on the eighth amendment, let us ensure we get a well-considered but timely decision and that we can act on that decision. I call on all parties to recognise the public wants a say on this issue, and we should allow it that. I call on everyone present to consider supporting this amendment and dispel criticism that the citizens’ assembly is a delaying tactic.

Had we more time today, I would elaborate on the expert group that will advise the assembly. Who will decide on its membership? How will it be constituted? Will there be legal experts or medical experts? Will it draw on international best practice? Ultimately, it will be the experts that frame the discussion of the assembly. These issues are extremely important. I will be voting against a citizens’ assembly if our amendment is not accepted today.