Paschal Donohoe in favour of allowing abortion up to 12 weeks

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said he agrees with the report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment, which recommended that abortion be allowed up to 12 weeks without restriction.

“I believe the committee’s report and the recommendations that are contained in it should be put to the people and I support the recommendations that are in the committee’s report.”

In an indication, however, of the divided views in Fine Gael on the issue, Patrick O'Donovan, the Minister of State in the Department of Finance, said he had a "different view" to Mr Donohoe, although he would not fully detail his position.

“Every household in the country is going to have views on this. I have a different view to Minister Donohoe on this, and I’ll be articulating my view later on.”

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Mr Donohoe follows others such as Minister for Health Simon Harris, Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty and Minister for Housing Eoghan Murphy in supporting the recommendation from the Oireachtas committee.

The Cabinet is expected to discuss the issue on Wednesday.