Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will start on the last point around opinion polls. The opinion poll in question is the only one to have been taken on this issue since the referendum.

If the Minister has so little faith in opinion polls, then why is the Government spending so much money on all sorts of internal polling to find out what people think and then issuing a policy based on what people think? That is what happens within Departments and Government. We saw how the Taoiseach had to calm down his spin unit, which was effectively a polling spin unit carrying out polls to find out what people think and basing policy around it.

The Minister should not be disingenuous. He should at least acknowledge this is the only credible poll, with plus or minus 3% accuracy, that has taken place since the referendum. The question in the poll relating to taxpayer funding was whether people were in favour of or opposed to taxpayers funding unrestricted abortion up to 12 weeks. The results found that 88% of "No" voters did not favour taxpayer funding with the same view held by 44% of "Yes" voters. Overall 59% of all adults who were surveyed opposed the taxpayer funding model of abortion. That is in line with our amendment.

According to the World Health Organization every year in the world there are 125,000 abortions. It is a lucrative industry worldwide, whether people want to acknowledge that. It would be wrong and complicit of the Government to enter into the policy in this Bill that would allow that industry to flourish in future. That is essentially what is happening here. Taxpayers are entitled to conscientious objection on a moral issue of life or death. This is a life-or-death Bill. The amendment does not include sections 9 or 10.

The World Health Organization document on technical and policy guidelines for health systems makes it absolutely clear in the recommendations that financing of abortion services should take into account costs to the health system while ensuring that services are affordable. However, "affordable" is far from being universal. That is the point I am making.

I would not like to fall into a pothole that would cost €12 million to repair - that is for sure. The Minister's argument that €12 million is only small change in the overall expenditure of the Department and that it represents only a small percentage simply does not wash. A total of €12 million is not small change. We live in the real world and €12 million is a great deal of money. We are setting out with €12 million but, based on this Bill, if passed, the figure will increase substantially.

Reference was made to the campaign issues around billboards and people who campaigned to say that it should be universally available. That may be so for campaigners on the pro-choice side but the Government position was clear. It has since changed or the truth has been revealed. On 31 January this year, the Taoiseach attended the launch of the referendum campaign. He said that abortions would be safe, legal and rare. That is not what is in this Bill. There is nothing about rarity in this Bill. The taxpayer is going to fund universal abortions up to 12 weeks irrespective. The dishonest language, the spinning of this issue and the tactics being used are disingenuous. The perception that it is only a small amount of money adds to the vacuum that has been created around this area and the dishonesty that has been attached to it. Unfortunately, what will happen is that, as Deputy MacSharry, a good colleague of mine, said in the other House, abortion up to 12 weeks will become the contraception of choice for some people.