Other parties have begun by referring to Joanne Hayes. I hope the political parties that contributed to the atmosphere of that time and to the witch-hunt of that woman will draw the necessary lesson, that is to say, women should have privacy and autonomy over their own lives.

Five weeks ago, an all-party Oireachtas committee voted in favour of having a referendum on a simple repeal of the eighth amendment and of providing for abortion to be legal up to 12 weeks without restriction. This was the culmination of a process that was set up by the Government. Yet, people are none the wiser on the simple question of whether the Government is now going to accept or set aside the recommendations of the committee.

Later today, many young people are expected to assemble at the Dáil as part of the Strike 4 Repeal movement. They want to listen to the debate. The questions they want answered are simple. These young people know nothing of the Ireland that we got a glimpse of yesterday, that is, of dead babies on beaches or Salem trials of a woman. They believe in bodily autonomy. They will not accept politicians procrastinating. They are the people who will actually face crisis pregnancies in future. We need certain questions answered. Is it the Government's intention to honour the Taoiseach's commitment for a referendum in late May? In order to meet that timeframe, will the Government do three necessary things? First, will the Government move the First Stage of a repeal referendum Bill late next week? Second, will the Government set up the referendum commission, which has asked for 16 weeks in which to operate? Third, will the Government publish legislation that contains abortion up to 12 weeks on request?

Four weeks ago, the committee report was published. Given the number of Deputies who have not had time to read it, one would think they were asked to read War and Peace rather than a short report. As usual, when it comes to the rights and decisions of women, Deputies are wrestling with their consciences in a way they never do when it comes to cutting hospital beds or bailing out banks. Anyway, women should be allowed to examine their consciences about this decision rather than politicians - that is the reality. Let us worry about whether people with crisis pregnancies can sleep at night rather than the Tánaiste or Deputies.

This really should be simple for politicians. As Professor Aralkumaran put it at the committee, do we support legal or illegal abortion? That is the simple question. Do we want to force people to remain pregnant? That is all anyone need ask themselves. Societal attitudes have moved on considerably. There is now a new middle ground. Even if there was not a majority now for abortion rights – the figure was 60% in the last RED C poll – parliaments have to legislate for societal need and reality.

My question is for the young people who will gather at 5 p.m. Will the Government respect the recommendations of the Oireachtas committee? Will the Tánaiste give a date for when the repeal Bill will be first moved through the House to allow the referendum commission to be established? Will the Government ensure that legislation gives real abortion rights, regardless of the Tánaiste's personal opinions?

I thank Deputy Coppinger for that question. I will address the timeline in terms of what the Government needs to do. The Taoiseach has made it clear that the Government is committed to a referendum, but there is a procedure that needs to be followed to ensure that becomes a reality. This is something the Government agreed as a three-step process some time ago. We agreed to set up a Citizens' Assembly, which did a very good job. Then we agreed that the recommendations from that process would go before an Oireachtas committee, which also did a very good job in debating, discussing and making recommendations. There was not unanimous agreement but there was majority agreement. The third part of the process that the Government committed to was consideration, following a debate in the Oireachtas, of the recommendations of that report and making a determination in terms of how a referendum should proceed and what question would be asked. We are moving through that process. We are now at the start of the third stage of it.

The timeline for procedural steps, compiled by the Department of Health, envisages a series of memoranda being submitted to Government in the period from late January to early March. Subject to Government approval of each memorandum in turn, it is proposed that a constitutional amendment Bill must be initiated and passed by both Houses during the period from March to mid-April. A referendum commission must also be established, subject to Government approval. Previous commissions have indicated that four months is required for such a commission to do its work properly. A referendum must be held not earlier than 30 days and not later than 90 days after the constitutional amendment Bill has passed the Houses of the Oireachtas and a polling day has been agreed.

Of course, in parallel we have committed to putting together at least the heads of legislation. The aim is to try to set a context around answering the question people will rightly ask if they are asked to vote either to remove a section of the Constitution or to replace the existing provision with something else. People will want to know what the reality will be after that in terms of legislative certainty. That is a question people will want answers to.

We are beginning a detailed debate in the House this evening. I do not think we should be drawing conclusions before that debate even starts, as Deputy Coppinger seems to be suggesting in terms of making commitments. The Government wants to hear what all parties and all contributors to the debate have to say. Then, the Government will have to make decisions around the Cabinet table in terms of how we proceed.

Obviously, it is reasonable for the Oireachtas to have a debate on this issue – I have no problem with that. When that debate is finished, today or tomorrow, my next question arises. It relates to meeting the timeframe of 25 May. I imagine everyone would agree that is an optimal time to have a referendum because it would allow young people and students to vote before exams begin etc. We need about six weeks for the repeal Bill to move through the Dáil. That was the timeframe according to advice given to the Government before the committee sat. It seems there is new information suggesting we do not need that period. That is why I am raising the matter now. The hemming and hawing taking place from the Taoiseach and many others is not giving any confidence that it will actually happen.

I agree that legislation should be published on abortion. The reason I agree is that I have no confidence that this Dáil, with its current make-up, could actually be trusted to enact the legislation unless it gets a public endorsement in this referendum. People should know what they are voting for. I am confident that they will accept it. The key issue now is whether the Government will meet the timelines. It is a matter of a simple repeal Bill. We all know what is needed is a simple Bill of one or two lines. I have a draft Bill along those lines before me. If the Government does not wish to move an appropriate Bill next week, maybe Solidarity-People Before Profit will move a Bill next week.

I am unsure whether it would be conducive to the House moving forward together if Opposition parties are going to start trying to force the pace on something. What we are trying to do - the Taoiseach has given great leadership on this - is recognise the fact that there are differences of opinion. These are deeply held and linked to people's personal circumstances and experience. Many in the House have strong views in respect of these issues in the context of the need to protect women in a more comprehensive way than we do today and in the context of the responsibilities we have towards children and unborn children.

The Government is trying to bring forward a proposal that can allow the people to make an informed decision about our Constitution and the consequences, that is, what the new realities will look like, if they decide to change the Constitution. This is complicated and not straightforward. It requires legal advice from the Attorney General and thoughtful, political debate that listens to everybody's perspective and tries to come up with an approach that all parties will be able to support in order that we can take party politics out of a very divisive difficult and emotive issue. That is what the Taoiseach is trying to give leadership on.

He is not doing a very good job.

I think that he has done a good job so far. We will try to meet the timeline he has set to ensure we have a referendum in late May or early June. He has tried to put a process in place to get us there in that timeline and the Government will act on that basis.