Twenty one years ago the case of a raped 14 year old child brought into being the judgment in the X case. From that time to this, we have awaited a legal clarification of an existing right for pregnant women to avail of termination of pregnancy where their lives are in danger. For 21 years medical professionals who care for those women have also waited for legal clarification and protection for their medical roles. I understand that the legislation for X was discussed today at Cabinet. Why is there an ongoing delay in the publication of the heads of the Bill? I want the Taoiseach to explain what precisely is happening at Cabinet.

The Deputy will have to be elected to office before she gets to know that.

I want him to reassure us that the legislation has not become a hostage to fortune in some kind of political stand off between Fine Gael and the Labour Party. I want him to confirm that he remains resolved to ensure this legislation is brought before the Oireachtas and put on the Statute Book by the time we rise for the summer recess. I want him to reassure medical professionals and, in particular, women of child bearing age this Government will not fail them as so many have done in years gone by. Where is the legislation and when will it be published? Can we expect it today or tomorrow, or will we have to continue to rely on media speculation as to what might be in it? When will the general public see the Bill and when can we debate it? Crucially, is the Taoiseach still committed to putting it on the Statute Book by July?

I will be frank with the Deputy. I think we had 28 items on this morning's Cabinet agenda. The Government dealt with all of them, including the approval of 1,000 to 1,500 jobs on the Kilkenny-Waterford border. This will have a significant employment impact on rural Ireland when the milk quotas are abolished. It is an example of strategic and important planning. The Cabinet began discussing the heads of the Bill dealing with the issue she mentioned but because of time constraints, including the need to be in this House, it was not possible to conclude our discussion. The Cabinet will resume its work on the matter after a little while and I hope the heads of the Bill can be published this evening. I hope the Deputy understands this is not the legislation but the heads of a Bill. They will go to an Oireachtas committee and everybody will have an opportunity to have a say on this sensitive matter. Work on the provisions of the Bill will continue both in parallel with and subsequent to the deliberations of the Cabinet sub-committee. It is my intention and hope that it will enacted before the House rises for the summer.

As I noted previously, this is a sensitive matter which has been around for a very long time. The intention of the Government is to address it within the parameters of the Constitution and strictly within the law. No new rights will be conferred but legal clarity and certainty will be given. This is about saving the lives of women and their unborn babies, with due regard to what the Constitution says and what was determined by the Supreme Court. Work on the matter will continue later this evening.

From the Taoiseach's response, I imagine that the issue of legislation on X must have been 28th on the agenda, or perhaps it was dealt with under any other business.

She is an absolute genius.

I do not appreciate the tone of the Taoiseach's response. He knows as well as I do the urgency in bringing forward the heads of a Bill. The fact that it will not be finished legislation is all the more reason for the Oireachtas to see it and for it to proceed to committee without delay so that a full and frank debate can proceed. I have a worry, which I know is shared by others, that what is happening at Cabinet is a form of posturing, not least from the Taoiseach's political party.

A question please.

Total nonsense.

I understand fully that the legislation, when it comes before the House-----

Who is posturing now?

-----will simply-----

Some of the faces behind Deputy McDonald are not happy that she is raising the issue.

-----legislate that which is already lawful.

A question please.

We are 21 years on and further delays cannot be justified in any way. Over the past week there has been a considerable amount of intemperate and inaccurate rhetoric from the Taoiseach's own benches.

The Deputy must be referring to last night's "Prime Time".

I hope the Taoiseach has faced that down and that we will see the heads of a Bill this evening. I ask him to make it clear that he intends to bring the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas and onto the Statute Book by the end of July.

Yes, it is my intention. I remind the Deputy that it has been 30 years since the amendment was first introduced in 1983 and, as she noted, 21 years since the last occasion in which people were engaged here. This matter has not yet been dealt with. The Government intends to deal with the issue within the parameters of the Constitution and the law, taking account of the obvious sensitivities of this complex and technical matter. It is about saving the lives of women and their unborn babies, and it ill-behoves Deputy McDonald to come in to this House, after all those years, to play politics with the lives of women.

It ill-behoves the Taoiseach to delay the legislation. We have waited 20 years for it.

If she waited 20 years for it, she can wait another 20 minutes.