"I think she would like to have the baby in the same way she would like to have a nice doll." Those were the chilling words used by Ms Justice Nathalie Lieven in a British court recently justifying her decision to force a mentally disabled woman to abort her late-term child of 22 weeks in the womb in violation of her wishes and indeed the wishes of her mother, her legal advisers and a social worker. Her mother was willing to care for the child. Thankfully, that decision was overturned on appeal but Ms Justice Lieven, who had been an advocate for bodies supporting abortion prior to her life on the Bench, described the Northern Irish law, which protects mothers' lives and unborn children, as torture. I would encourage Senator Ardagh, respectfully, in light of that very recent chilling example of what the British law can amount to, to think about whether it is a matter of sweetness that the British Parliament should threaten to impose an extreme abortion law on Northern Ireland.

It is neither patriotic nor wise to be happy about the British Parliament imposing or threatening to impose any laws, especially on socially sensitive areas in a jurisdiction such as Northern Ireland. I thought we had moved beyond that kind of oppressive majoritarian thinking.

The issue that I wanted to raise today is good news.

Only one issue is to be raised.

Senator Mullen is using much of his time.

I am sorry about that. I raised the case of the Hyde family recently. They moved to Australia and their application for permanent residency was denied because their child had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. That incredible decision was thankfully reversed as a result of a last minute intervention by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs in Australia and the family will be allowed to remain after all. While that is a great outcome, certain concerns about the case remain. One is the media blackout about this case in Ireland. If Donald Trump's America had refused a visa to a child with cystic fibrosis, we would rightly be talking about it continually. I am concerned about what I see as the hands-off position taken by the Government on this issue. When I raised it as a Commencement topic, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, said that it would not be possible for the Tánaiste to comment on the visa procedures applied by other sovereign states. That is a curious statement when we rightly, constantly, pass comment on American procedures and our Government rightly expends time, money and manpower on actively lobbying the Americans to change their visa procedures and laws. If one was a cynic, one would conclude that the Irish lobby in the US is large, well-funded and regularly wines and dines the leadership of the largest political parties. No such lobby exists in other countries.

I ask the Leader to agree that it is not acceptable for the State to take a hands-off approach to issues which affect its citizens, neither in ordinary situations nor a fortiori when there is a child with cystic fibrosis who, for a time, appeared to be at the receiving end of a harsh decision. As a State, our policy should be to assist the best possible outcomes for Irish families so that they can live, prosper and contribute to whatever society they want to live in, all things being equal. There should never be any discrimination on the grounds of a family member's disability of any kind.