Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem with this is that people who see themselves acting in a context where the State has all the power and all the money, and is in a position to ensure these services will be provided in a way that is widespread, are a million miles away from being what some people would like to call conscientious obstructors even if they wanted to be. It simply has no reality. They are people who for professional and ethical reasons, which may be rooted in faith or, as I said before, in their outlook on life or the simple human rights beliefs they hold that there are two human beings to be cared for and cherished here, do not want to become a cog in a wheel of a corrupt and corrupting process. That is their concern. They are not out to block the State from securing access to what the State now permits. They are people who want to go their own way peacefully and live, work and act professionally according to their values about how they want to care for other people in accordance with the training they received.

Many of them received training at a time when these procedures were unconscionable from a human rights and human dignity point of view. For 35 years, the Constitution had a noble protection of human rights for two patients. Under the guidance of the Government this has now gone but the people who want to care for others remain and they include people who are now in the process of training. We are speaking about doctors, midwives and pharmacists. The Minister himself gave a commitment as I understand it. It is not the only promise he has not kept on this legislation. This was that people who were studying or training would also be protected. This is not there in the legislation. Those of us presenting these amendments could have, and perhaps should have, extended our definitions on those studying or training to include student or trainee nurses, midwives and pharmacists.