Vol. 525 No. 2
151 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Health and Children the latest figures available to his Department on the number of Irish women who had abortions in the United Kingdom; the proportion of the live birth rate this represents; his views on the report of the all party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution dealing with the abortion issue, particularly its proposals to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24542/00]
In 1999, a total of 6,226 women who gave Irish addresses had abortions in England and Wales. This is equivalent to 11.7% of the number of births in Ireland for that year. Provisional figures provided by the Office for National Statistics, London, for the period from 1 January to 31 March 2000 indicate that 1,667 women who gave Irish addresses had abortions in England and Wales in that period. This figure is equivalent to 11.9% of the provisional number of births, 13,984, in Ireland in the same period.
The report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitution has not yet been submitted to the Government. Therefore, I am not aware of its contents and am not in a position to comment on it.
