Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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1602. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department has previously commissioned or intends to commission research into the evidence which indicates that pain is experienced by unborn babies from 20 weeks of gestation onwards. [1084/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 sets out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland.

Clinical practice in the area, including research on latest developments in the field, is a matter for the professional medical bodies involved.

The purpose of the legislation is not to dictate the practice of obstetrics. Indeed, it would not be appropriate for me, as Minister for Health, to dictate medical procedures or treatment plans; such decisions are a matter for the treating clinicians in any given case.

The Deputy can however be assured that medical practitioners are bound through professional regulatory mechanisms to operate in accordance with best medical practice.