I thank the Minister for being here this morning, for her detailed contribution and for meeting the party in advance of this debate. I also commend Deputy Cairns and my friends and colleagues in the party for bringing forward what is, as we have said, the wording from a report commissioned by the Government. This is what we are trying to do. In my political naivety, I thought the days when we asked women to share personal stories of trauma in order to enact legislative reform were behind us. Notwithstanding many of the meritable contributions in the Minister's speech, we cannot ignore some of the basic limitations to the legislation as it stands. We have spoken about the recommendations and the stance of the WHO on the three-day wait and the 28-day piece, but also the criminal sanction that is faced by practitioners and the fear that creates within that occupation. I only appeal to the Minister on one issue. Similar things seem to be being said by people on either side of the House. The Social Democrats are asking the Government to work with us on this legislation. She has pretty much said the same thing to us. She is asking the Social Democrats to work with her on this legislation.

Sentiment score: 0.12

Did the Minister say it would not pass a vote?

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I ask for clarification.

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What I have learned, as a still relatively new TD, is that when legislation such as this comes before the House, the Government either amends it into an abyss or it goes to the next Stage to have what I think we can all agree is something of a meritable debate. It needs to debated further. We all have different opinions and conclusions. As part of that, we bring in the expertise and the different stakeholders and talk it through. It would be deeply regrettable to say "Goodbye" to this legislation when a committee room would be the appropriate next chamber for us all to work on it together. That is why I again appeal to the Minister, notwithstanding what she said in her contribution, to agree that there are many points in what we are saying today that make sense and there is significant evidence that backs that up. To me, that measure merits further conversation and legislatively that happens on Committee Stage. I again appeal to the Government to reconsider and allow the Bill to progress in order to have a debate on Committee Stage.

Sentiment score: 0.16