Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Of course, people should be able to visit healthcare buildings without harassment but the need for this Bill is certainly subject to scrutiny. The Department of Health has stated that protests outside healthcare facilities are limited and that where problems do arise, there is existing public order legislation in place to protect people accessing services, staff and local residents. Indeed, the Garda Commissioner said the same in a letter to the then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. He outlined that the introduction of protest prohibition zone legislation would be redundant because of the existence of current laws and the fact no incidents of criminality had been reported or observed. If the situation around access to healthcare facilities was akin to what we see in the United States, for example, with large-scale, organised, high-energy and confrontational protests, that would be handled using current public order legislation. The fact this does not occur demonstrates that what this Bill seeks to ban is small, peaceful groupings of individuals who gather to discuss alternatives to abortion with women who may be open to such or simply to engage in quiet prayer, as is their right. The fact the Bill explicitly mentions prayer as a "prohibited action" in section 3(2)(f) is astounding. It might be the first time a Bill has sought to criminalise the act of praying.