Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I pay tribute also to the outgoing Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and thank him for his service. He was a member of every Fine Gael-led Government since 1982. He said yesterday that he enjoyed most of all being Minister for Finance. As many of us know, he is a man held in huge affection, a man in whose company we enjoy being and who has had a strong sense of what it means to be a Minister, to be in government and where he wanted our country to go. I thank him also.

I pay tribute also to the Attorney General, as Senator Mullen rightly referenced. From my dealings with the outgoing Attorney General, I found her to be a woman of courtesy, professionalism, warmth and absolute integrity. Whenever I spoke to her or met her, I always left her with a great sense of joy and of being appreciated. She had an interest in everything we were doing in both Houses of the Oireachtas. I thank her and her family for her service as Attorney General. Senators Ardagh, Ruane, Bacik, Mullen and Reilly raised the very sad case of the young woman who was sectioned as part of the report published. It highlights the importance of the work of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. It is important that we acknowledge the creation of that committee and allow it to do its work in a manner that is sensitive and respectful without recourse to adversarialism but that can examine the issue, as many people want to see happen, and come up with a solution that we will present to the Government. It is heartbreaking to read the reports in newspapers yesterday and today of the way this young woman, a citizen of our country, was treated and incarcerated. As Senator Mullen said, it is important to allow the committee do its work. It is premature to suggest that dates for a referendum and so on should be proposed because the committee must do its work. Equally, the investigation into what happened called for by the Senators should be carried out by the Minister for Justice and Equality or the Minister for Health because there are protocols outlined in the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act and it is important that they are fulfilled.

It is important that we get answers to what happened in this case, but it is important also that the issue that will come before the Oireachtas in the coming weeks is dealt with in a sensitive, caring and respectful manner. Regardless of people's viewpoints, we, as Members of this House, on behalf of the people who elect us, must deal with the matter and, ultimately, either put it to the people or not. That is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas and the people to decide. I hope that the Members will reflect upon the report of the Citizens' Assembly and read the papers given to them. Regardless of whether they agree with the outcome, a piece of work was done which was important and should be valued.

Senators Norris, Ó Donnghaile, Coffey, Feighan and Colm Burke made reference to the election that took place in the North and across the United Kingdom last week. I congratulate the MPs from all parts of the United Kingdom and the North of our country on their election. I pay tribute to them, their families, teams and parties - and Independents in some cases - for the role they played in the election of the new MPs.

I pay tribute also to the MPs in the North of our country who lost their seats. I express my disappointment at the loss of three fine Nationalist MPs, Margaret Ritchie, Alasdair McDonnell and Mark Durkan, who were exemplary representatives of the people and who carried out their work on behalf of the citizens of the North. The outcome of the election is one we all respect. The people have the final say. It is they who decide who represents them, but it is a source of concern that there is no Nationalist MP sitting in Westminster when a minority Government is in place which may be kept in power by members of the Democratic Unionist Party. At a time when we are dealing with Brexit and do not have a power-sharing Executive in the North, it is a concern that there is not that articulate Nationalist voice in Westminster. Senator Ó Donnghaile may shrug his shoulders at what I am saying, but I say it as a proud Republican and Nationalist. Abstentionism from Westminster is one thing, but Senator Feighan is correct. There is a wider forum where we must all be the voice of Irish Nationalism across the water in the United Kingdom.