Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will strip it down. I welcome the Minister. I have no doubt of her ability and wish her the very best in the brief. I also thank Senator Stephenson for introducing me to the concept of medical gaslighting. There are several women in my life who like to accuse me from time to time of merely having man flu and I now have the perfect repose.

More seriously, I have three points. We should of course have a broader and indeed longer debate covering not just women's health but other issues. Since it is International Women's Day, we need to have that discussion about what did the public say when they said such a resounding "No" last year to the removal of the idea of the mother's particular role and gift to Irish society as set out in the Constitution. We cannot just ignore people's statements or decisions on these matters when it does not suit us. We should talk about how we can complement the needs of parents, women and men in the home because a clear message went to the Government at that time. Perhaps it needs to be clarified through debate as to what positive measures could be taken to give effect to the decision to maintain the status quo in that area?

In terms of women's health, there are positive and very negative and troubling legacies from the previous Government's endeavours. I welcome, as does everybody else did, the great progress being made in BreastCheck with the mobile screening units and of course the screening units in hospitals. Hopefully, that can be rolled out even more so that more women aged between 50 and 69 can be screened every two years. The outcome is more lives being saved. We must not lose sight of that.

I really regret though, the impact on women's mental health, particularly women abroad, as a result of the surrogacy legislation that was put through last year by the Minister for Health. When I consider the ruthlessness with which that was put through and the lack of attention to the mental health and other needs of women who are exploited through surrogacy, that is one of the great regrets I have from the previous term.

On the troubling issue of abortion, and I will conclude with this, like many other Irish women and men, I am troubled by the rise in Ireland's abortion rates. There needs to be a refocus to reduce abortion, specifically the dangers of basing abortion on a telemedicine model when the HSE has acknowledged that meeting a woman in person increases the likelihood of the provider identifying any coercion or domestic abuse. On maternal mortality, there was a case in a Limerick hospital of a woman who had an abortion via telemedicine, despite the existence of an undiagnosed ectopic pregnancy, and who nearly died because there was no ultrasound. As a matter of informed consent, every woman should be offered an ultrasound, whatever one’s views on the rights or wrongs of abortion. It is a matter of women’s health and the health of their unborn boys and girls.

I wish the Minister well. Whatever differences we may have from time to time, I know she engages seriously with people’s ideas. Those ideas are, I hope, proposed honourably and with integrity in respect of these important issues.