Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 5 Feb 1998

Vol. 486 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Abortion Research.

Ms McManus

I raise this question to discover why the Minister for Health and Children is hiding information, he seems to have gone into hiding rather than coming into the House to reply to this debate. It is ironic that this House recently passed an Act which enables people to have freedom of information on abortion, yet I am seeking freedom of information on research on abortion.

I welcome the opportunity to raise the matter. The Minister for Health and Children is reported in an article in the Sunday Tribune as stating that he will not release recommendations which form part of the research project on unwanted pregnancies. I tabled a parliamentary question on this matter, but received a grossly inadequate and misleading reply.

This research was commissioned by the previous Government as part of a strategy to address the increasing level of Irish abortions. A sum of £100,000 was allocated to fund research by TCD. The Irish taxpayer paid for the research and the Irish citizen has a right of ownership over it. It is the first serious investigation into why so many Irish women, in ever increasing numbers, are having abortions. It will help to lift a veil of silence and mystery that has surrounded this issue.

Inevitably, as with any research, the recommendations are a crucial part of the findings. Yet the Minister intends to publish what is, in effect, a censored, truncated and emasculated report with its central part excised. The reason given is that he does not want to give the impression that he or the Government endorse any position on abortion ahead of the Green Paper which is to be published. This is an extraordinary statement for a Minister to make. It displays an arrogance that I, not just as a public representative, but as a citizen of the State, find unacceptable. It presumes the public is unable to differentiate between a recommendation and policy. The Minister has also taken it upon himself to presume what is best for the people to read; presumably, for the good of our souls he is protecting us from ourselves. He reminds me of one of those busybodies who used to desecrate books in public libraries by tearing out the pieces they found offensive so that the rest of us would not be besmirched. It appears the Minister intends to excise the pieces of this research project he believes we cannot be trusted to read.

These recommendations have a relevance now, not at some time in the future. They cannot be put on the long finger in the way the Minister did in regard to legislation on abortion. He has devised a lengthy and carefully crafted process which will mean the Government will not have to face up to the substantive issue for a long time. In the meantime, the rate of Irish women having abortions continues to increase. One in ten pregnancies end in abortion and the rate will inevitably continue to increase unless a strategy to prevent crisis pregnancies is put in place urgently by his Department.

The recommendations we are being denied are important, not only for the Department, but for political and professional people who wish, as I do, to develop and put in place an effective and safe prevention programme. It is neither medically nor socially desirable that we should have such an increasing rate of abortion.

By censoring this important research the Minister is guilty of extending the delay in bringing about a reduction in unwanted pregnancies and, consequently, in the level of Irish abortions. He is not a man known to be afraid, but to deny the public a right of access to vital recommendations that should be available to the public can only be described as an act of cowardice.

I do not want another increase in abortion figures this time next year and I am sure neither does the Minister. I urge him, therefore, to do the right thing, to publish the full report and treat the public in a serious and accountable way rather than like children.

Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise (Mr. Jacob)

I thank Deputy McManus for raising this matter. I apologise on behalf of my colleague the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Cowen, for his inability to be here. I am glad to have this opportunity, on behalf of my colleague, to set out the position on this important issue.

This study was commissioned from the Department of Sociology of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1995 by the then Minister for Health as part of a comprehensive approach to the abortion issue. It followed the passing of the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Act, 1995. The objective of the study was to assist the Department in understanding the factors which contribute to unwanted pregnancy and in particular those factors which lead to women seeking abortions. It was hoped that with a better understanding of these factors, the Department of Health would be in a better position to target preventative policies where they would be most effective. In particular, it was hoped that the results would be useful as a basis for the development of properly targeted education programmes to help reduce unwanted pregnancy. I emphasise it is equally the concern of the Government that strategies be developed which will aim to reduce the incidence of unwanted pregnancy and comprehensive counselling and health care for women with crisis pregnancies should be available.

The study commissioned from the Department of Sociology in Trinity College involved extensive field work, involving interviews with women with crisis pregnancies some of whom had opted to keep their child, some of whom planned to have the baby adopted and others who had chosen abortion. It had been hoped that the results of the study would be ready in the spring of 1997.

However, the fieldwork process and the task of writing the report took the research team somewhat longer than had been anticipated. Consequently the draft report was received by the Department of Health and Children on 9 December 1997. I take this opportunity, on behalf of the Minister, to compliment the research team on the sensitive manner in which it carried out its work and for the comprehensive report which will shortly be finalised and which will help to inform public debate on this difficult issue.

On 2 December 1997, shortly prior to receipt of the draft report, the Government had decided to establish a Cabinet committee to oversee the work of an interdepartmental working group whose task will be to prepare a Green Paper on abortion. This work is under way. Submissions from interested parties and the public generally have been invited and the objective will be to have the Green Paper completed in the summer.

The draft report submitted by the Trinity College research team contained a number of policy recommendations made in the light of their findings. The Minister for Health and Children was, and remains, of the view that it would not be appropriate to publish an important report containing recommendations, while a consultation process leading to the preparation of the Green Paper is under way. To do so would, no doubt, lead to the Government being accused of attempting to influence the debate or of endorsing certain positions on the abortion issue in advance of the preparation of the Green Paper.

The Trinity College research team, with whom the Department has discussed the matter, are of the view that the publication of recommendations could deflect the debate from the research findings, which are of paramount importance. The Department has suggested that the team considers making a submission to the working group which is preparing the Green Paper on abortion.

The Minister for Health and Children has no difficulty with publishing this research, the final version of which will contain detailed findings and conclusions based on the team's research. This position was conveyed in reply to Question No. 3, from Deputy Shatter, on 29 January 1998. The response to Deputy McManus's Question No. 52 — of the same date — addressed the points she had raised.

The Trinity College research team is finalising its report on the basis which I have described. It is also taking the opportunity to carry out some minor editing of the text. The report is expected to be ready within a matter of days. The Minister will be proceeding to make arrangements for its publication and placing on public sale as soon as possible after that.