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HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris said he hopes legislation on abortion following the Yes vote in the referendum could pass through the Dáíl as early as September.
This afternoon, Harris held a meeting with the opposition spokespeople for health which he described as “very constructive”.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said over the weekend that laws giving effect to Friday’s referendum could be enacted before the end of the year, but campaigners had called for a shorter timeline.
The Together for Yes campaign urged the government to pass legislation allowing for the terminations of pregnancies before the summer break.
A spokesperson for Harris’s department said this evening: “The Minister updated the deputies on his meeting with the Attorney General and his officials. He also sought cross-party agreement to pass second stage of the new legislation by the summer recess.
“This would facilitate the Health Committee potentially taking the Bill through committee stage during the recess, most likely early September, with the hope that the Dail could pass report stage by the end of September.”
Harris agreed to meet the opposition spokespeople on health again in two weeks time and he will continue his meetings with stakeholders tomorrow and Friday.
Ireland voted by 66.4% to 33.6% on Friday to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution and replace it with the 36th Amendment, directing the Oireachtas to legislate for the termination of pregnancy.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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Don’t we have enough unemployed over here without hundreds of Italians cycling for their giro cheques?
Jaysus give over will you?
It’s a play on words
Jokes are always funnier when explained.
Calling that a joke is an insult to comedy
Ha ha Ben ingenious
Epic fail there Ben lad
Just got hit trying to get into town. Fcukers diverted me through the port tunnel which is free today. Never been through it before, it’s akin to teleportation! !
If you listed to the BBC news the Giro is only in the North. No mention of ROI.
Muppets.
I watched some of their coverage yesterday and they clearly stated quite a few times that it would end in Dublin.
That’s a lie! They mentioned Drogheda Dundalk and Dublin a good few times!
Not the news report I watched before the launch. Not one mention of ROI.
The amount of hassle this is causing for a bunch of clowns on a bike is baffling
It’s another opportunity to get Ireland mentioned positively on international TV. Every little helps.
It’s a few roads closed on the slowest day of the week, for a few hours, once every 16 years. Get over it.
Thor was a Norse God. Isn’t that where trolls come from
“It’s another opportunity to get Ireland mentioned positively on international TV. Every little helps”
I think it’s great. The race passed right by my house and the whole village was looking great and everyone was out for it, but ‘mentioned positively’ is a bit of an overstatement. On Eurosport it was mentioned multiple times that teams and riders were not particularly happy with their time in Ireland due to the weather and the strain it put them under in the overall context of the Giro.
have your say