Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-04
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

I wish to extend my deepest sympathies to Denise Whitmore, Mark and the entire family on the tragic loss of baby Éadha, and the very difficult and traumatic circumstances of both Denise's pregnancy and what subsequently happened with the travel to the United Kingdom, particularly the journey back.
As the Deputy knows, the legislation came as a result of the constitutional referendum we had in respect of this issue a number of years ago. The legislation was consistent with commitments given in the debate to the Irish people prior to the repeal of the eighth amendment. It was a contested referendum and various arguments were put forward on both sides. Various commitments were given in respect of how subsequent legislation would be formulated and what it would contain. In many respects, one of the key motivations for a lot of people who voted "Yes" to repealing the eighth amendment was the experience of women who had been through fatal foetal abnormality. I met quite a number of women who told me the harrowing journeys they made to the United Kingdom and back. Certainly, I found it a very powerful, motivating factor for a proper humane response to a situation such as this.
Again, there was a lot of contested debate around this; hence what has transpired in the termination of pregnancy Act 2018 and in particular, the section referring to the provision before or within those 28 days of birth. There have been issues out of that as a result of the referendum and Act itself. I do not understand why bereavement counselling was not made available; it should be made available. There should be no excuse for the absence of bereavement counselling in situations such as this. I will pursue that with the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and the Department, as to what transpired.
As regards the wider issue, the Act itself is consistent with the debate and commitments that were given. Section 11, in particular, puts in that provision.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-04/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:43+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-04