Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will. The Minister presided over a completely corrupt process, whereby the three-year review on abortion was supposed to be carried out by an independent person. He gave that commitment at a certain point. He said there would be public recruitment of the person. In the end the Government chose a person who was not independent and who had expressed views in favour of changes to our abortion law. The later attempt to shore up that inadequacy and corruption in the process was to say that it meant the person had to be independent from politicians, which is a laughably thin argument. That is why I say that there is no other word for the Government's approach to this.

The Government is unprincipled, dishonest and reckless about the protection of human life. This is coming out in the referendums and other campaigns. The Government is more interested in getting its way than in consulting ordinary people. The Government and the Minister are more interested in talking to insiders than, for example, hearing from, even as a democratic obligation or courtesy, the many representatives of the pro-life perspective in society which says that both mothers and their unborn babies should be protected. There is something Borg-like - that is for fans of "Star Trek" - in the way the Minister and the Government plough on mechanically as though there were no ethical or professional concerns, as though there were not countless good people in our society who want to pay witness respectfully to the dignity of both unborn babies and their mothers and who deserve, at the very least, courtesy.

I remember engaging with the Minister a few years ago on this issue. I asked him whether he would consider meeting people and he said he would meet anyone. That is what was said to me off camera, so to speak. However, when it came to requests to get a hearing from the Department of Health, I am afraid it was "computer says no", so I do not have any respect for the way the Minister carries out his responsibilities as the Minister for Health. I do not have anything against the Minister personally, but I utterly deplore how he has carried out his duties as Minister for Health. The Government he represents has been utterly unprincipled and utterly disrespectful of human life and, in recent times, utterly disrespectful of dissent. The arrogance of power is clearly on display.