Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is with great pride that, as Sinn Féin's Seanad spokesperson on health, I speak on this historic and landmark legislation and can chart its journey not just from a year or two ago but from way back in the 1960s, when the feminist movement began in this country.It was a very cold place for those people then and recently it has been a cold country for women.

We must also mark today by thanking those women and men who, more recently, have got us to this point, including Ailbhe Smyth, Orla O'Connor, Gráinne Griffin, Dr. Peter Boylan, my party leader, Deputy Lou McDonald, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and Senator Noone who chaired the committee, which was at times tetchy.