Last thing Coalition wants is divisive debate on abortion

The tragic death of Savita Halappanavar at University Hospital Galway could be the catalyst for agreement between the Coalition parties on legislation to deal with the consequences of the X case, 20 years after the Supreme Court ruled on the matter.

Until recent days there appeared to be a gulf between a significant group of Fine Gael TDs and their Coalition partners in Labour as they awaited a report of an expert group on abortion.

The group was established to advise the Government how to respond to the European Court of Human Rights decision in 2010 that Ireland had failed to properly implement the constitutional right to life of the mother set out in 1992.

Last month a number of Fine Gael TDs expressed reservations at a parliamentary party meeting about proceeding by way of legislation to define the circumstances in which abortion might be legally carried out.

With the Labour Party committed to legislation rather than another referendum as the best way of dealing with the issue, it appeared that abortion could come back to bedevil the Fine Gael-Labour Coalition in a repeat of the political nightmare that caused so much trauma in the 1980s.

The publicity surrounding the events in Galway, whatever the circumstances of the tragedy, has galvanised public opinion and that, in turn, has had a direct impact on the political system.

A number of Fine Gael TDs who had expressed worries about legislating for the X case have modified their views and now accept that legislation is urgently required to clarify the constitutional position that abortion is justified if there is a threat to the life of the mother.

Meath East TD Regina Doherty summed up the mood of the group by saying: “I am anti-abortion and pro-life, but I am pro my life and the lives of my children.”

While wide differences remain between those Fine Gael TDs who identify themselves as “pro-life” and some Labour TDs who are adamantly pro-choice, a broad consensus is emerging in both parties that the recommendations of the expert group should be implemented through legislation.

Whether that legislation will require a formal Bill to be enacted by the Oireachtas or whether it can be done by way of a statutory instrument is not yet clear.

What is clear is that there is no appetite in the political system for another referendum on abortion. Two attempts by government to deal with the X case by way of referendum in 1992 and 2001 were defeated, and there is a growing acceptance by TDs that as legislators they will have to deal with the issue.

The last thing most Government TDs want is to get embroiled in an emotive and divisive debate on abortion. There are a range of views in both Coalition parties but there appears to be broad support for legislation to define the limited circumstances, identified by the Supreme Court, in which abortion is legal.

The Government is due to respond to the European Court of Human Rights by the end of this month, and while it is unlikely to have agreed a definitive position by then, the broad outline of how it plans to proceed should be clear.

Meanwhile, Ministers are wrestling with crucial decisions on the budget which could well determine whether this Government goes down in history as a success or a failure. Recent positive developments in the way the country’s economic prospects are perceived abroad should stiffen the resolve of Ministers to make the necessary tough decisions.

The absence to date of the leaks and counter-leaks that bedevilled the run-up to last year’s budget indicates a seriousness of purpose around the Cabinet table.

One of the by-products of last year’s political circus was that the Government was wrongly blamed for doing things that it had not in fact even attempted to do so confused was the public by the welter of options bandied about in advance of the budget.

This year discipline has been enforced by the simple expedient of withholding position papers from most Ministers.

While bilateral negotiations between individual Ministers and the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform are under way, the inner core of the Cabinet is playing it very tight.

There are no easy options left at this stage in the crisis and whatever happens there are going to be loud squeals from a whole range of interests on budget day. The Medium Term Fiscal Statement published by the Department of Finance during the week made it clear that grim options are on the table.

The document promised that the public service wage bill would be reduced with “the targeting of unjustified pay allowances for elimination”. It also promised that the full range of social transfers, including universal benefits, would be examined to identify savings and efficiencies.

What precisely all this will mean in practice we will only find out on December 5th.

It is essential not only that the budget is fair but that it is seen to be fair. Official figures show that the less well-off have actually been better protected in Ireland than in any other EU country since the economic crisis struck but that is not the popular perception.

Some dramatic gesture like a surtax on the exorbitant pensions of bankers and others who led the country into the economic abyss might go a long way in persuading the public to accept another dose of hardship as a necessary step on the road to recovery.