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.