Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following: " "authorised trade union" means a trade union which holds a negotiation licence under the Trade Union Acts 1941 to 1990;".

The Minister is very welcome. I thank him for taking the time to attend. I am really pleased to be able to move to Committee Stage of the Safe Access to Termination of Pregnancy Services Bill 2021. While Sinn Féin is very proud to be supporting it, I must stress the cross-party nature of the campaign behind it. The Bill has been co-signed by members of Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Civil Engagement Group, the Green Party and Fianna Fáil, as well as by the father of the House, Senator Norris. A Bill has been commissioned and drafted by Together for Safety, a national campaign group working for legislation that would enforce safe access zones around all family planning centres, maternity hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ireland that provide or give information on abortion. All credit for this legislation belongs to Together for Safety and its tireless campaigners across the country. I am thrilled to have three of the many activists from Together for Safety in our Chamber this afternoon, namely, Karen Sugrue, Yvie Murphy and Victoria. I thank them so much for the work and the tireless campaigning that they brought to this Bill and for the broad coalition of support for this Bill, which was built by Together for Safety. It is a tremendous achievement.

I will be brief because we have just a couple of hours to progress this legislation through Committee Stage. I want to be clear that we need this legislation without further delay, because women and pregnant people are entitled to access essential healthcare, including access to termination of pregnancy services, in privacy and dignity, without being subject to intimidation, harassment and the subtle but deliberate chilling effect that anti-choice protestors bring to hospitals, family planning and GP settings across the State. I know that the Minister was informed in the past week of a disturbing new development in my home city, Limerick, where the timing of these anti-choice protests is now coinciding with the timing of appointments for terminations. It is clear, from a number of people who have spoken to Together for Safety, that information is being leaked. These protestors are now targeting women and pregnant people as they arrive for their terminations. That is disgraceful, and it speaks to the urgency required in respect of this Bill. We introduced this Bill three months ago. I was delighted by and appreciate the fact that the Minister allowed the Bill to pass Second Stage. He said that we are all on the same page. I believe we are. It is important to move this Bill forward.

I look forward to the remainder of this Committee Stage debate. A number of the amendments are in response to concerns the Minister raised on Second Stage. We look forward to working with him in order that we can move the legislation forward as a matter of urgency and give women and pregnant people the protection that they deserve, which is already in place in a number of jurisdictions across the world. We need to deliver that as quickly as possible for our people in this State.