Neale Richmond: Respectful debate on abortion reform

Good luck and I'm extremely grateful of the opportunity to close this debate on behalf of my friend and colleague Minister Carol McNeill and indeed sincerely and genuinely to thank all who have contributed to this debate, those who I agree with, those in particular who I don't agree with. I think this issue has been one that literally for the entirety of my life has led to sometimes the worst scenes of politics where party politics, where personal ambition and personal focus from across the spectrum has really diminished the level of debate and really taken unfortunately the political discourse into a place where actually what we're talking about at the heart of the issue was removed into the abstract. So the ability that we can stand in this chamber in 2026 and have what I would think has been a relatively civil and constructive debate and to be able to disagree with each other disagreeably and respect fundamentally the right of every deputy in this house to have their own personal or indeed political party opinion and their own approach to this I think is so vitally important. Cahirleach, the government is absolutely committed to ensuring that there is safe and equitable access to termination and pregnancy services and in this respect I believe it is worth acknowledging the substantial progress that has been made to date. Termination services and early pregnancy are now provided in all 19 maternity hospitals. There has also been a sustained increase in community providers which currently stands at 492. The revised model of care introduced in response to the COVID pandemic is now approved as the enduring model of care. Under this blended approach it is possible for one of the two consultations required for termination and early pregnancy to take place remotely. As outlined earlier by Minister Higgins this alleviates some of the difficulty that may be associated with the mandatory three-day waiting period in that it reduces the time and expense involved in travelling to the doctor's surgery twice. It also improves access for many women and addresses geographical and logistical barriers. Safe Access Zones legislation came into effect on 17 October 2024 under the Health, Termination and Pregnancy Services Safe Access Zones Act. The cumulative effect of these measures is to substantially reduce barriers and increase access to services for those who need it. Cahirleach, furthermore the feedback received directly from clinicians indicates that the service is working well. This is particularly significant if we take account of the fact that it is a relatively new service which has been built from the ground up. There is a broad range of sincerely held and articulately expressed views on termination and pregnancy and on the removal of the three-day waiting period. I would just very briefly like to address in the interests of being helpful some of the points raised whilst I was here in the Chamber. I know Minister Carmichael will of course continue to engage with deputies from across the House on this issue. In relation to the points made by Deputies Sherlock and O'Gorman seeking wider political co-operation and indeed an expedition of the legislation, it is my understanding that Minister Carmacneil has engaged in an element of consultation with the service providers and indeed with politicians from all shades so far. She will of course continue that. Depending on the vote of this legislation tomorrow evening, we will decide at what rate that goes on. This is not a straightforward process. I think regardless of where one stands on it, they know that any legislation that would come from this will be quite different than perhaps what we envisage now and it has to be practically implemented. Equally Deputy Coppinger has made quite clear her belief that the full recommendations of the O'Shea report should be put in place. There is a multitude of recommendations, as has been detailed in quite some depth from a legal point of view, from Deputy Geoghegan and all of these are being taken on their merit and I understand some frustration. To the point made by Deputy Tobin, and I mean this very, very sincerely Deputy, I have no interest in making any politicking about this. I don't want this to become a political debate about the substance of the issue, regardless of where one stands on that, and a very deeply held personal conviction. I think we can all agree that these are all deeply personally held convictions and it's not one that anyone comes to lightly. It is my fundamental belief that what we voted on in 2018 and I campaigned on one side and you campaigned on the other side and that's politics, was ultimately the decision to move to repeal the Eighth Amendment from our constitution. To remove this from a constitutional matter to provide it to be a legislative matter. That is the core thing that was voted on. There was very many other aspects to the campaign and I completely take your points on it and those eloquently made by Deputies Nolan and Michael Healy-Ray, but fundamentally the decision was taken by the Irish people to empower the democratically elected members of the Oireachtas to legislate on these matters as is done in jurisdictions around the world. That is the fundamental decision and that is how we approach this debate here this evening. I think it is important therefore yes the government will not oppose this legislation because the government has declared a conscience vote for the members of the government from both parties and our independent grouping and I think it is therefore important to lay out of course my own personal view. I would have been supportive of a previous bill brought a couple of weeks ago by the Social Democrats. I also was the sole member of Fine Gael to vote for the bill put forward by People for Profit in the last Dáil so I am absolutely consistent that of course I am supportive of this legislation. I am very grateful to the Sinn Féin party for placing this legislation. That is not the case for other members of my party. That is not the case for other TDs in my party. This is a decision they are empowered to make on their own right. This is an issue when Deputy Cottinger rightly says was brought about by a grassroots campaign and I know what it was like to be the sole Fine Gael member who voted for legislation in the last Dáil but also in 2014 voting on a local authority vote when the three people who voted in favour were myself and the two People for Profit councillors. There is a divergence in this that does not take a narrow political division and I think it is something that we have to respect that people reflect on this deeply and come at it from a very personal point of view. I had the distinct honour last night to address the annual general conference of the International Planned Parenthood Federation which was being held in Dublin. An event like that being held in Dublin would have been completely unthinkable not that long ago. The people gathered had come from over 100 different countries around the world where they have seen clear legislative backsliding, not just in areas like this but more generally when it comes to gender equality, when it comes to the rights of women, when it comes to the rights of minorities, minority faiths, minority religions and they see very genuine, real political and administrative pressure being put on their livelihoods and they now come to Dublin because they know it is a safe place to have their conference and to have a discussion where people can disagree with them but not persecute them and I think that is a funnily thing. I was delighted that the Irish Government are now in a position to support the Federation and I signed off to make sure that we doubled our funding last night and that is something that I will continue to do in my work as a Development Minister where the situation due to an arbitrary culture war being taken somewhere else has seen maternal health in the poorest countries in the world dot to some of the worst levels. Gaelic, we are now living in a time where HIV, AIDS, after the last 25 years infection rates have been dropping, they are now going back up. That is fundamentally due to political decisions. AIDS rates are going up, malaria rates are going up, the level of infant mortality are going up because of political decisions and it is that context in my work as a Development Minister that I want to make sure that Ireland continues to be a safe and progressive place. One, to be a woman, first and foremost, and everything that comes with that. I think the strides made from us in our constitutional decisions over the last number of years are something that go above and beyond politics. The tenor of those debates, going back to the Citizens' Assembly, the debates in the Seánad, the debates at the committee on the Eighth Amendment chaired by my colleague in the Seánad, dear friend Catherine Noone at the time, were reflective of a better Ireland than the Ireland that voted when I was literally an infant in my mum's arms to insert the Eighth Amendment into the Constitution. Regardless of what everyone feels about the issue, I fundamentally respect it, they were not good debates. It was not good politics and it created a system of othering that none of us can stand over, whether we believe in the decision to legislatively pursue with removing the three-day wait or not. And I will say this from a deeply personal point of view, that I think this legislation is welcome, of course I'll support it, but I think we all know, those of us who believe in this, that we can do more and we have a responsibility to do more. That won't come from a party political decision and there will be opposition to that and that opposition is healthy and democratic. On behalf of Minister Cara MacNeill, she has stated that she will support this legislation as well, as will the Taoiseach, as will the Tánaiste. The decision taken by any other member of the government benches, whether they're a ministerial officeholder or other, is for them. I've laid out my very clear personal opinion, I think that can be respected by the Chamber and we can continue this debate if it is to be passed tomorrow night and I sincerely, sincerely hope that it is passed by a majority of this Chamber. That we can progress a legislative debate in the manner that we have been able to achieve, debate on the most sensitive of topic I believe on this island, in a way that doesn't drag in unnecessary comparisons, that doesn't provide a campaigning platform to provide attack and negativity. Because at the end of the day, somewhere around the country, at this moment, is a 14 or 15 year old girl who has been raped and is being faced with a very serious decision. She does not need politicians, particularly male politicians, using her as a political football and my appeal to the Chamber, whatever one's conscience is, I respect that, but please debate as if that young person is watching in this debate.