Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

950. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to proceed with special interim legislation in respect of parents with fatal foetal abnormalities as proposed by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36969/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I assume the Deputy is referring to regulating access to termination of pregnancy on the grounds of a fatal foetal condition. 

As the Deputy will be aware, there is a court process ongoing in relation to the result of the Referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution, held on 25 May 2018.  While this process is ongoing there are orders in place stalling the procedure to enact the constitutional amendment. This means that the referendum result remains provisional and the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 cannot be signed into law by the President. Therefore, the Bill to expand the grounds for the legal termination of pregnancy cannot be published in the Houses of the Oireachtas, as article 40.3.3 remains unchanged in the Constitution.

However, as the Deputy will also be aware, the General Scheme of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 was published in advance of the Referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution, and an Updated General Scheme was approved by Government on 10 July 2018 and published on my Department’s website. Head 6 of the Updated General Scheme makes provision for access to termination on the grounds of a condition affecting the foetus that is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth.

It is my intention to bring the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill to Government as soon as possible. It is a priority for the Government to have a medically delivered, safe and regulated service for the termination of pregnancy for all those who require it in this State.