Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Covid-19 has affected the entire world. The World Health Organization has done good work in terms of pulling together all of the strands of the pandemic. However, one particular country, Taiwan, does not appear to have much, if any, access to the World Health Organization. Taiwan has proven to be enormously successful in terms of its response to Covid-19. I call on the World Health Organization to give the Taiwanese Government representation at the World Health Assembly and to work out a structure to bring Taiwan into the World Health Organization so that we all can benefit from its experience and it can feed into the overall world response to the pandemic.

I was troubled to hear that the National Women's Council of Ireland has issued a report which states that only 10% of GPs are providing advice and support in regard to the termination of pregnancy in this country. Three years ago this week the people of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to amend Bunreacht na hÉireann to allow for the termination of pregnancy up to 12 weeks in this country. It is worrying to hear reports that many GPs have opted out of this service. My fear is women in rural Ireland in particular are being extremely affected by this decision. It is troubling to hear also that many women still find it necessary to go to England for a termination of pregnancy, alone and with no support. The legislation needs to be reviewed and amended to reflect these challenges and difficulties in the system.