Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Health when he is expecting the expert group to report to him regarding the ABC case; if the judgements handed down by the European Court of Human Rights are legally binding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39134/12]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy might be aware, the Expert Group on the A, B and C v Ireland judgment of the European Court of Human Rights was due to report to government within six months of establishment by means of a written report. As the Expert Group was established in January 2012 the report would have been due to be submitted at the end of July.

The Expert Group has made very good progress and is currently in the process of finalising its report. However, the Group requested a short extension to the time limit it was given to complete its work. They expect their report will be completed and submitted to me by the end of September and I will subsequently submit it to Government.

As the Deputy will be aware, Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that “The High Contracting Parties undertake to abide by the final judgment of the Court in any case to which they are parties”. Ireland has signed and ratified this Convention and therefore Ireland is under a legal obligation to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in A, B and C v Ireland .However, I would like to reassure the Deputy that the judgment of the European Court confirms that Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution is in conformity with the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court accepted that Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the X case, provides that it is lawful to terminate a pregnancy in Ireland if it is established as a matter of probability that there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother, which can only avoided by a termination of the pregnancy. This has not been altered by the judgment.