Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On Committee Stage, I heard Senator Mullen's argument, which came out of the blue for me as it was not something I had thought about before. I had sympathy for his view. He and I engaged extensively the following day about it. I thank the Minister for facilitating a meeting with all of us, including the officials who are present and two others from the Department of Health, subsequent to that. In that meeting, we heard in great detail the expected steps that would occur in the various scenarios that we put to the room. We considered what would happen in certain scenarios and went through various situations. Something lacking from the language of the amendments is the sheer extent of consideration that is behind all of this and which was exhibited on that day. Consequently, I support the Minister's position completely and utterly. I do not agree that there is anything mean-spirited at play.

What gave me great clarity at that meeting was that the term "her pregnancy" is included to ensure that the person requiring the treatment is at the centre of everyone's decision-making and that doctors and medical professionals in that situation are also mindful of their obligations with regard to the baby that is also present and the viability of that child. There are already protocols in place to safeguard this. It has nothing to do with, and is completely siloed from, the termination of pregnancy. That is something completely different. That point was repeatedly reiterated in that meeting and in the explanation of the sheer extent of contemplation that was brought to bear on what decisions must be made in the hopefully rare situation where this legislation needs to be relied upon.

In the interim, I have had representations from a former party colleague, Nora Owen, a former Minister for Justice and deputy leader of our party. She is currently a board member of Safeguarding Ireland. That organisation's representation was to absolutely support the wording the Minister has put here and regard it as a long overdue and needed set of words and formula. I thank Ms Owen for her work in that regard. I support the Minister's position.