Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Kelleher for a very personal speech and join with other speakers in commending and congratulating our colleague and friend, Senator Noone, on her very fine chairing of the committee.

I begin by wanting to end the narrative that the process adopted by the committee was wrong. The process was very fair, balanced and came up with a report that we can all be justifiably proud of. Those who served on the committee did so with extreme endeavour, professionalism and courtesy. I want to commend all members of the committee for their work.

This is an important debate. In the annals of the history of our country we have had momentous occasions and debates in this House, in the Dáil, and in Irish society. However, as Senator Kelleher said, 35 years on from the last referendum on the eighth amendment, we are now on the precipice of having another referendum. It is cliched to say that this is a sensitive and complex matter, but it is. It divides households, communities, political parties and friendships. It should not do so. We need to have a debate that is respectful, tolerant and that understands the intricacies of this matter and of this debate. I hope that we can have that debate.

I speak as somebody whose life has changed in many different directions and whose view on this matter has evolved. In 1984, I was a seminarian in Maynooth College with a very different world view than I have today. As a pro-life person, I believe that all life is precious. Like Senator McFadden, I want to see this Article repealed and changed. My views have evolved through listening, engagement, debate and understanding life and what life brings forward.

I had the privilege and the pleasure of being Chairman of an Oireachtas committee which sat in the Seanad Chamber for six days on the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013. I was also a member of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. It taught me many different things. One of the things I really want to express in this House is that vitriol, name calling, protestation in person or online has no place in this debate. None of us should stand up for that. Constitutional change is required. I am happy to support repeal of the eighth amendment. I was 2 lbs when I was born prematurely in 1967. Life to me is precious. Equally, the life of my mother and of any mother is as precious. From debating, reading and listening, this is about the right of a mother, it is about the health of a woman and it is about reproductive health.

On hearing of the death of Peter Sutherland, I went back and read his opinion published, uniquely, by Government at the time. I read it and I would appeal to all people, all citizens of our Republic, to read with care what he said. He spoke about ambiguity and about an unsatisfactory outcome which would lead to confusion and uncertainty. How right he was. What we require now and what is needed in this debate and in the referendum to come is, to paraphrase the Minister, Deputy Harris, one where we have compassion, empathy, care and understanding and where we have certainty given. That is why the report is not just about a call for a referendum, it is about the ancillary recommendations about maternal care and public health care for women and for children. That is equally as important as the referendum to come. I ask all Members to read the ancillary recommendations.

No longer is an Irish problem one that we can brush under the carpet. The solution that we had was to export, let the woman travel but say nothing and pretend it does not exist. In the modern world that we all live in, we have the abortion pill. The tenable situation and solution is no longer tenable. We cannot allow women to travel unsupported and without help. As Senator Reilly said, we cannot allow women to continue taking unregulated abortion pills illegally. To ignore the facts of life today will continue the mistreatment of women by us in Irish society. We can no longer allow that to happen. As we speak this evening, delivered by An Post or by a courier, there are women taking an abortion pill in the privacy of their own home, in a public restroom or wherever. We do not know the outcome. We do not know what is going to happen the following day. Are we seriously going to say that we are going to allow our sisters, our aunts, our work colleagues and our friends to travel anonymously and to go through an experience, as Members have said here, without support and without help? Is that the modern day Irish solution that we are going to stand up for and support? I really hope not.

That is why this debate is so important. Senator Ó Ríordáin, in his fine speech, spoke about being an Irish man. I speak of being an Irish man in an Irish society that stands for a proclamation of treating all of our people equally, and that includes mná na hÉireann, the women of our country. Irrespective of our viewpoint on the right to life or on abortion, this is not about a quip on a poster or about a debate. This is about the treatment of our citizens, of our women. It is time that we allowed our citizens to make their decision. They will vote. Irish people will make that decision in a referendum. That is why it is important that we have a debate based on facts and information. The debate should not be based on spin and a campaign driven by extremes on both side, but by the middle, where we can base it upon the evidence given. That is why the committee made decisions that perhaps did not go as far as some people would want. That is why the committee disagreed with the Citizens' Assembly on the socio-economic grounds and disability. That is the mark of a committee, of a parliament and of a democracy where we can disagree.

From having the privilege of chairing the joint committee dealing with the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, from speaking to medical professionals and from getting to know them, our doctors want certainty. Our women deserve certainty. Let us make it quite clear. As Senator Bacik said in her remarks referring to the figures following the passing of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, the sky did not go berserk with women presenting and getting permission. It was the opposite in fact. I trust Irish women. That is even more the case since the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013.

Senator Noone as a parliamentarian deserves immense praise for the way she handled the committee.The committee sat from June to December. It held numerous meetings with countless witnesses, some of whom were, perhaps, liberal. I refer Senators to the testimonies in the report.