There is, in the words of one TD on the Oireachtas health committee, a “clear division” among members about whether to subject Sinn Féin’s Bill scrapping the three-day waiting period for abortion services to further scrutiny.
Oireachtas committees scrutinise Bills all the time – although the process is, on occasion, waived when there’s a push on to get a new law on to the statute books.
Proponents want to press on as quickly as possible, arguing that there was ample scrutiny of the legislation during last week’s Dáil debate when it passed second stage of the legislative process by 86 votes to 70.
They point to a pre-existing body of opinion in favour of reform, including the review of the State’s abortion system by barrister Marie O’Shea, which recommended the removal when it reported in 2023.
RM Block
Those on the Government side largely want to engage in further scrutiny, however. This comes in the wake of Coalition leaders Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris voting for the Bill, along with a number of Ministers including Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
However, large swathes of the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parliamentary parties, including Cabinet Ministers Jim O’Callaghan, James Browne, Norma Foley and Dara Calleary, opposed the Bill. While everybody concerned respects the outcome of last week’s Dáil vote, there remains a lot of politics to play out in the passing of the legislation.
The principal question is one of time. Proponents of the Bill want it to be law by the end of the year. Even with extra time set aside for scrutiny, they still believe this is possible.
Although the vote in the Dáil was comfortable, it was not resounding – and as already mentioned, there are high-profile opponents. On a sensitive issue like this, opponents may hope there are at least some waverers. There is also the Seanad vote still to come.
Extending the process allows time to build pressure on those who may be on the fence. The absence of a whip on future votes makes this a kind of live-fire exercise in vote-hunting the Oireachtas rarely sees. Public scrutiny, presumably hearing from opponents as well as proponents, offers the chance to influence the discussion around the three-day wait. The political facts on the ground may change. There is also a push on to see what amendments Carroll MacNeill is planning before going further.
For private member Bills like this, after pre-committee stage scrutiny (as distinct from pre-legislative scrutiny applied to Government Bills), a report is produced and a recommendation given from the committee to the Dáil on whether to proceed.
Government TDs have a majority on the select committee (just TDs, no senators) that will make the decision on this, but it’s hard to see them defying the will of the Dáil. If they recommend against it proceeding, another Dáil debate would happen. Again, it’s hard to see the Dáil reversing its stance of last week, but there is an underlying logic here.
If you want to signal your opposition to the Bill on principled grounds, send a political message to your party leader, or just improve the hand you have to play, the logic stacks up in favour of spinning the process out. No single point in this process is a trump card where opponents of the Bill can neatly kill it off – but each presents a small opportunity to improve their position. Being a stone in the legislative shoe here is an opponent’s best shot.
“If you’re on the opposing side, you’ll always want to drag things on for as long as possible,” says one committee member who supports the Bill.
Politics is about high-profile moments like Sinn Féin’s successful gambit to get the Bill through the Dáil vote last week. But it is also about the long game. And for some Government TDs, delaying the legislation helps to set a marker against any further liberalisation of Ireland’s abortion laws.
