If the expert group on abortion recommends that legislation be introduced to deal with the issue the Government will have to act on it, the Minister of State at the Department of Health Kathleen Lynch has said.
Speaking this morning before the TEEU conference in Portlaoise, she said she would like to see the report of the expert group published as soon as possible.
"Fundamentally more important is to act on the recommendations. Sometimes we get involved in the minutiae and detail in this country and we forget what the core issues are. And the core issue in this case is that we act in order to ensure that women in maternity are safe."
Ms Lynch said she had not seen the expert group report but that she had discussed it with the Minister for Health James Reilly who has received a copy of the document.
"We have to wait and see what the expert group are going to recommend. My position has always been that when we see what it recommends we will have to act on that. We can no longer not act, we must take action to ensure that when medics find themselves in a position that they are treating women we must ensure that at all time the safety not just of the people treating but the people being treated is secure."
Asked whether legislation on abortion was now inevitable, she said: "I am not certain about that . I am a great believer that if you put an expert group in place you must wait to see what there recommendations are."
"What I accept as being inevitable is that we have to act and we have to act to ensure that the Supreme Court's decision is acted on and women's lives are not put in danger."
"If expert group recommends legislation then we have to do that."
Ms Lynch said she did not think there was any contradiction in the Government's position.
"Eamon Gilmore says doing nothing is not an option and I agree absolutely with that but equally it will be a very challenging piece of legislation, a very complex piece of legislation and we need to get it right rather than quick."