As the debate on the three-day wait continues at the health committee, women still face barriers to accessing abortion care. The HSE clinical director said there was no medical evidence behind retaining this provision and the Government must act urgently to remove the three-day wait. More significantly, it has been a number of years since the then Government commissioned the independent O'Shea review into how our abortion legislation works. That review contains several recommendations, including decriminalisation of medical practitioners, reforming fatal foetal abnormality restrictions that are still forcing women to travel and addressing geographic gaps in service provision. Will the Government outline a legislative roadmap for implementing these recommendations beyond the three-day wait? I know this issue is difficult and contentious but we cannot continue to ignore the recommendations of the review.

It is a very sensitive issue, with many different perspectives across the House and the country in respect of it.

We had a referendum a number of years ago that essentially created the legislative framework that now governs termination of pregnancy services. Significant progress has been made in that respect over the past number of years, which sometimes does not get acknowledged in the commentary.

As the Deputy knows, a Private Members' Bill relating to the three-day waiting period for termination in early pregnancy passed Second Stage in June and is currently undergoing detailed scrutiny by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health. Officials from the Department of Health and the HSE appeared before the joint committee as part of the process. The Minister and her team will continue to engage constructively with the joint committee and Deputy Cullinane regarding the progress of this Bill. We are aware there is a varied and broad range of sincerely held opinion on the abolition of the three-day waiting period, so we have allowed a conscience vote on this issue and support respectful debate on it.