Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This matter is the need for the Minister for Health to clarify the person, persons or bodies that recommended the nomination of each of the 14 members of the recently announced expert group to examine the options to deal with the European Court of Human Rights ruling in the A, B and C v. Ireland case, other than the Medical Council and An Bord Altranais, and the criteria used for selection. The expert group has a difficult task on this sensitive issue, which is to bring forward a series of options on the fundamental issue of balancing the right to life of a mother and that of her unborn child. I welcome the Government's decision that the expert group should bring forward a series of options rather than just a single recommendation. In that regard I also draw attention to the fact that the Fine Gael Party, in a pre-election commitment, vowed not to introduce abortion legislation and said that pregnant women will receive whatever treatment is necessary to save their lives and the duty of care to preserve the life of the baby will also be upheld. I subscribe fully to that and I hope there will be no deviation from it.

Ireland has a very impressive record over many decades on maternal safety and safe births. Indeed, a recent UN report on the safety of mothers during pregnancy ranked Ireland at the top of the class, a position that must not be compromised in the future and one which, it is to be hoped, the expert group will keep to the forefront of its deliberations. Advocates of abortion should reflect carefully on this and consider that countries such as Britain and Holland, where abortion is readily available, lag behind Ireland with regard to the safety of mothers in pregnancy. In fact, Ireland is safer than a plethora of countries with greater economic resources than ours and with wide-ranging legalised abortion.

The European Court of Human Rights judgment arises from the Supreme Court decision in the X case which held that abortion is lawful when there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, and that such risk included that the mother might commit suicide. However, the Supreme Court, surprisingly, reached this verdict without hearing any expert psychiatric evidence. We will all remember the circumstances. We were in the middle of a general election campaign and this became an election issue. As a consequence it did not get the kind of examination it should have got.

In the intervening 20 years, research has increased our knowledge of potential adverse mental health effects associated with abortion and has been greatly advanced in review studies. This raises serious doubts about basing our legislative response on a judgment that lacked the informed findings of more recent research.

In Britain, a high proportion of the 190,000 abortions that took place in 2010 were based on psychiatric grounds. This should be instructive for us and for our expert group, who would be well advised to take account of Professor David Fergusson, particularly given his own personal position as favouring the right to choose. In that regard, it is interesting that this British assumption has been challenged by him since more sophisticated studies have been conducted. Writing in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2009, Professor Fergusson concluded that his research clearly suggested that an unwanted pregnancy leading to an abortion was likely to be a risk factor for subsequent mental health problems whereas an unwanted pregnancy leading to birth was not a risk factor for these problems. He concluded that we should be careful in that regard.

Pivotal to the deliberations of the expert group is how the series of options may be ultimately shaped. Therefore, how the people were selected and whom they represent are important components of what the outcome might be. The abortion industry has resources, influence and long tentacles. Planned Parenthood in the United States, for example, had 330,000 abortions in 2010 and facilitated only 841 adoptions. This is a value of life issue. Let us not diminish society's respect for the inherent value of every human life.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly.

As Senator Walsh might be aware, on 29 November 2011, the Government approved the establishment of an expert group to recommend a series of options on how to implement the A, B and C v. Ireland judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. The establishment of this expert group reflected a commitment contained in the programme for Government.

In terms of its composition, it was agreed that, to fulfil its remit, the group would require experts representing the fields of obstetrics, general practice, psychiatry, law, public policy and professional regulation. The Minister for Health and I have every confidence in the members who have been appointed to the group. In addition, it could consult with interested parties and additional relevant experts and professionals in order to aid its deliberations. The group is due to report back to Government within six months from its establishment.

As the Senator has already indicated, proposed nominations were sought from medical training bodies and the professional regulatory bodies, that is, the Medical Council and An Bord Altranais. The Office of the Attorney General was also of assistance in recommending nominations to deal with the legal aspects of the judgment. When the Minister for Health received all of this information, he considered it in consultation with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and made his final decision as to the membership of the expert group.

By way of background, in December 2009, the European Court of Human Rights heard an application by three women that it is a breach of their rights under the Council of Europe Convention on Human Rights for the Irish State not to provide abortion in circumstances where a woman wishes to undergo an abortion, the A, B and C cases. The judgment of the court confirmed that Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution is in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights.

However, in the case of the third applicant, Ms C, the court found that Ireland had failed to respect the applicant's private life contrary to Article 8 of the convention. This was because there was no accessible and effective procedure to enable her to establish whether she qualified for a lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with Irish law. The court ruled that "no criteria or procedures have been... laid down in Irish law... by which that risk is to be measured or determined, leading to uncertainty..." and held that further legal clarity was required.

Following the judgment, the Government submitted an action plan to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 16 June 2011 as required by the European Court of Human Rights. The action plan contained a commitment to establish an expert group, drawing on appropriate medical and legal expertise with a view to making recommendations on how this matter should be properly addressed.

The Senator may wish to note that officials in the Department of Health are in the process of compiling a list of biographies of all the members of the expert group. The Minister for Health will be happy to send this document to the Senator once it has been finalised.

I am also pleased to inform the Senator that the first meeting of the expert group took place on 30 January 2012 and I wish it well in its deliberations.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his response, which is comprehensive. I welcome the fact that the biographies will be published. Could those biographies include any prior comments on this sensitive topic, if there are any on the record, which would display the disposition of members of the expert group regarding their being pro-abortion?

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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Please reply briefly, Minister. Senator, I remind you that this is not the Minister's brief.

Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)
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I accept that.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the biographies will speak for themselves. I am also sure the Senator will be well able to Google, or otherwise find, the necessary information regarding comments made by people who have very strong views on both sides of this issue.