I also wish to raise the unfortunate situation that has transpired n Galway. I would like to say one thing in regard to the medical profession. This is not a matter of the failure of the medical profession, it is a matter of the failure of the Legislature. It is unfair to blame the members of the medical profession for the position in which they have been put by the failure of successive Governments to legislate for something that has been on the books of this country for a long period of time.

The newspaper reportage has raised some valid questions about what happened in this case. The first point is that we would all feel a sympathy towards the lady and her family for what has happened. However, it is important to note that Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world in which to give birth. The fact remain however that for every 50,000 Irish women who give birth every year a further 14,000 Irish women miscarry. This is a very serious matter for a very significant proportion of the Irish population. Pregnancy is a time of great joy but it is also a time of great fear. This case has highlighted the vulnerability of Irish women who experience difficulties in the course of their pregnancy.

For the lady in question, it would appear that miscarriage was inevitable. She was fully dilated. I understand she was a dentist so when she asked for a medical termination, I assume she had some notion of what she was requesting. The fact that the family was told this was a Catholic country is something about which we should all be concerned.

Some valid questions have been raised and as Senator Norris noted in particular, there are rights that all pregnant women should have. One of these is the right to a second opinion, particularly for women depending on the public health system in this country who cannot vote with their wallets.

Is there a question for the Leader?

I ask the Leader to assure the House that he will ask the relevant Minister to make the report of the expert group on the X case known to this House at the earliest possible opportunity. I ask him to put to the Minister for Health that legislation on the matter is needed, not just to give the women of this country clarity but to protect the medical profession.

I have a point of order. It is entirely in the Cathaoirleach's gift as to what contributions are made here but I confess that I am extremely uneasy about the contributions so far relating to a family which is deeply in anguish and distress and a case which has not been given any great clarity other than through newspaper reports. I ask colleagues to use some sensitivity and use good judgment.

I completely agree with the Senator.

I feel very uneasy about this. It also gives an opportunity perhaps to go beyond the boundaries of this specific case.

The Senator was not feeling uneasy earlier.

The scope of the tragedy of what happened in Galway is overwhelming and we must reflect on the sad death of a young dentist and near professional colleague of ours. We should learn the lessons of the incident.

I have been quoted and misquoted on the issue, and the misquotes have been flying in recent days. Abortion is very rarely necessary to save a woman's life. It is an extremely rare event, although that does not mean it is not important to have a legislative framework for it. Anybody's life is important but there is another context to this, as maternal deaths in such circumstances are extraordinarily rare events. There are years in Ireland when there are no maternal deaths, with most years seeing only one or maybe two. Most of our large maternity hospitals regard it as a tragedy if there is one such death in the course of a year. It is an extremely rare event. To say that abortion is rarely necessary to save a mother's life does not undermine the necessity for having legislation in place for abortion to save the mother's life at a time when saving that life can only occur in the context of an abortion.

As has been pointed out most recently by my friend and colleague, Senator Mooney, the circumstances of the case are not well known and we are all depending on second-hand accounts from newspapers. I wish no disrespect to any of the accounts given or the unbelievable tragedy suffered by this family when I say we should reserve judgment until there is a formal account of exactly what happened here. There is a suggestion there may have been a failure on the part of the doctors, and that may be the case, but we do not know if that was the cause or if there was a failure of the legislative framework in which the doctors work. The legislative framework is surely inadequate and there has been a vacuum. An inquest will determine the cause of death and we can only hope that will occur very quickly. We must learn lessons from this case as there may well be other cases where similar decisions will be made by doctors, midwives and nurses in the middle of the night.

What is known-----

Is there a question for the Leader?

I ask the Leader to ask the Minister to schedule a debate on his plans at the earliest opportunity and pending the publication of the expert group's opinion. It is known that the shameful delay in providing the legislative framework has left a vacuum. In recent weeks a national newspaper pointed out that apparently dangerous advice was allegedly being given by clinics which are operating within the legislative vacuum, as we do not have proper advice available to patients in the health service. When that happens, ad hoc groups will spring up to give advice which is not at the same level as that which would be given in a mainstream and peer-reviewed hospital.

The Senator is way over his time.

I ask that the Minister give this issue priority and know he will do so. We need clarity and legislation on the issue. People will have different opinions about abortion but nobody can honestly believe there is any social good or benefit to the body politic or republic in delaying legislation to permit abortion when a woman's life is in danger.