Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not being here at the start of the debate but the two Houses are debating this important issue at the same time. I have been thinking about what I want to say for many weeks and I spoke in the Dáil on the subject but I now must see if I have a second contribution within me as it is an emotional issue. It is deeply sensitive and complex and an issue with which an awful lot of us have struggled and grappled. We have tried to make sense of it and to follow the evidence in order to come forward with what we believe is the way forward.

I agree with Senator Murnane O'Connor about being judge and jury on this as it is a deeply personal decision. I note the committee looked at the area of disability and specifically excluded it as grounds for a termination and while I appreciate the Senator's concern, our Oireachtas colleagues differentiated themselves from the work of the Citizens' Assembly in this regard.

It is important that this debate is respectful and, from what I have seen of the debates in both Houses this evening, I am genuinely encouraged on that score. Many people will have been watching and waiting to see who would use the first offensive term towards somebody else but they will not have seen anything of that nature today.