Kathleen Funchion: Condemns Protests Outside GP Services
Kathleen Funchion spoke about access to abortion services, rural GP shortages, protests outside clinics and the three-day waiting period, urging protections for women and support for practitioners. She welcomed that it has been five years since the repeal of the Eighth Amendment, called recent progress long overdue, and urged rapid implementation of services particularly in rural areas.
Rural access and GP shortages
Her constituency is a mix of urban and rural areas where many places have no local services and only one or two GPs may provide abortion care. She warned that limited local provision makes those practitioners obvious targets for protesters and that shortage-driven workloads already strain rural GPs.
Impact of protests on women and GPs
She described protesters outside GP surgeries as extremely intimidating and totally unfair, stressing that women do not make decisions lightly. While affirming the right to protest, she said demonstrations belong outside the Dáil rather than outside medical services where they intimidate patients and staff.
Three-day waiting period
Funchion linked the three-day waiting period to the difficulty of recruiting GPs to provide care, calling it a deterrent and evidence of a broader distrust of women. She welcomed recent legislation changes and urged the removal of the waiting period so practitioners are not put off signing up and women are not second-guessed.
Carlow and Kilkenny hospital update
She noted the hospital serving Carlow and Kilkenny currently does not provide the service but said she believes a provider is expected to come on board in September and that provision should change by the end of the year. She welcomed that development for women in those counties.
Call for rapid progress
She praised the minister for bringing the measure forward, described it as long overdue, and urged it to progress rapidly through the remaining stages so services can operate in practice and benefit vulnerable women and medical professionals.
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Thanks very much, Count Carly. Yes, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this and I am delighted to see that we are at this stage. I will say that it is five years since we repealed the Eighth Amendment and as I find myself often saying in this chamber around issues that disproportionately affect women, everything seems to be a battle. And if it wasn't for the women and the advocacy groups that continue that battle, would we actually be here? I look forward to the day when we actually can be in here discussing issues that are not long overdue and they are not years and years in the making. I particularly want to welcome this in relation to rural areas. My own constituency is a good mix of urban and rural and I will say that there is, I suppose, a lot of areas where there is no services being provided and I am not even necessarily talking about hospitals but just from a GP point of view. So if you have a situation where it is kind of known, I suppose, that there is only one or two GPs providing this service in a rural county or in part of a rural constituency, then that can very much become the target for protesters and it is very difficult for a woman in this situation. I do want to just stress that any woman in that situation does not make that decision lightly and sometimes people who have a very different view on this debate and they are entitled to that view talk about it as if, you know, somehow people will be lining up for a termination. That is not the case. So if you are going into a very rural area and you are met with a bunch of protesters, that is extremely intimidating and it is totally unfair and what other area of health care would we tolerate that in? I would say, I would say, I would say, I would say probably nothing else. So it is totally and utterly unacceptable. It is also unacceptable for the GPs that when this did come out and this was new for a lot of GPs and practitioners who we know are overrun, who we know have a huge amount of work at the moment, who are, you know, have like a very, very high workload, but it was new for them too. And they, you know, signed up for this in good faith and then are suddenly becoming the target. And again, I think that is more acute and more difficult in our rural areas. I do want to mention as well our own hospital in Carlow and Kilkenny. It is based in Kilkenny, but it services the two counties of Carlow and Kilkenny. It does not provide the services at present. I do believe that is changing and hopefully by the end of this year, I believe somebody is coming on board in September that is willing to provide the service, which is welcome. And I look forward to that for women in those counties that need to access that service. I want to really briefly mention, and I know that it's not directly part of this debate, but it is all linked, the three-day waiting period. And while I know we had another bill on that a few weeks ago, and that was, I was glad to see it was passed. The reason I want to mention that and link it is because that also, I think, is a deterrent to some GPs, particularly where they are under pressure. You know, a lot of people will tell you now, bring in a GP for any service. You nearly have to try to be scheduling your illness in, in advance, and that's not the fault of the GPs. It's just the way, unfortunately, things have become with the shortage. But if they have this situation then where you have somebody coming in and then you have to have the three-day waiting period, that is a deterrent for that GP to potentially sign up. Also, that's one part of the argument. My main issue and difficulty with that is the fact that the total distrust of women, that somehow, you know, you need extra time to consider this or think about this. Again, I just don't believe we would see this if it was an area of men's health care. And it just goes back to that same sort of a mindset, that distrust all the time. So I look forward to that legislation progressing as well and the removal of the three-day waiting period. But I do want to welcome this and I do think that it is positive and I'm glad you're bringing it forward, Minister. It is long overdue, but at least we're at this stage and hopefully it will progress rapidly now through all the rest of the stages so that we can actually see it up and running and in practice and be of benefit to women in those vulnerable situations and to the medical professionals as well who deserve to be able to go about their business. And just in my last few seconds, the reference to protests. Someone has been on several various protests over the years, over various things. I always welcome people's right to do that. But I do believe actually that outside this house is the appropriate place because the vast majority of protests are somewhat linked with legislation and policy. And they have absolutely no business and no place intimidating people outside GP or other medical services. And, you know, you really need to come to, I suppose, where the decisions are being made. So for people who want to protest outside this building is where they should be, not outside, intimidating women. Thank you, Anne-Chorla.
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