Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I bow to Senator Colm Burke's legal expertise. In the case where advice is given to the Government and it is not published, we are effectively left to make legislation here in the dark. We are assuming that the legislative advice given to the Government is sacrosanct. Why can it not be elaborated upon?

One then goes into the area of consultation. Consultation with whom? Is it consultation with those who support the pro-choice opinion, those who support the pro-life opinion or with those who may not have any particular view? Is this a two-way street? Is the Minister consulting with those who advocate his own position or is he consulting more widely? From what I have read and heard from the Minister, Deputy Harris, the consultation seems to be very narrow and one which garners support for his own opinion. That surely does not represent a wide-scale objective consultative analysis. Should a Minister for Health and his Department not be consulting more widely than just with those who subscribe to his own view for political purposes? As Deputy Harris is not here, I appreciate that Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, has just come to the Chamber. These are questions which are being raised and deserve answers. The legal opinion is not available. It should be available and certainly on this issue. There are other issues where sensitive legal information may not be made available for one reason or another. This information relates to the life of an unborn child and it is our wish to protect that right. That is why we are tabling some of these amendments.