Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to support my colleague, Senator McFadden, and the comments she made in general. In particular, on the "Claire Byrne Live" show on Monday night, I completely respect that people disagree on the issue with regard to the referendum. That is to be absolutely expected. There would be something wrong if people did not disagree. It has been a difficult issue for this country to discuss for many years.

However, the Irish people were the real losers in that debate. The atmosphere was aggressive, disrespectful and somewhat demeaning to be a part of. To have the memory of a woman like Ms Savita Halappanavar responded to by jeering and heckling when her name was mentioned, regardless of the context, was a new low in the debate. I hope that other programmes learn from this.

I understand that a lot of the time in this debate, it is an echo chamber, as people have their minds made up. On "Claire Byrne Live" a lot of people were there with fully formed views and that has to be respected on all sides. Equally, there were people watching at home who needed to access information that really was not getting out. This may be considered good TV but for me it was appalling. If one was willing to be aggressive in one's approach there was more airtime and I think that is regrettable.

As regards the Down's syndrome point, which is a point that Senator McFadden has made very well, the committee categorically decided and recommended that disability would not be a ground for termination in this country. The legislation has wholeheartedly taken on our recommendation in that regard. For the "No" side of the campaign to insist on using Down's syndrome babies is really appalling. I understand the Down's syndrome association has been very upset about this. I have to categorically state as the former Chair of that committee, that Down's syndrome is not something that was ever envisaged as such a ground, and there are many of the committee members who would be extremely uncomfortable with that.