The All-Party Committee on the Constitution is to start public hearings on abortion within weeks. The hearings are likely to be televised.
The Irish Times has learned that the decision to proceed with public hearings was taken at a private meeting of the committee on Wednesday.
A catalogue of the 105,000 submissions made to the committee in response to the Green Paper on abortion, and which was circulated to members this week, has been seen by The Irish Times.
Of the 105,000 submissions, some 90,000 were petition signatures, while another 10,000 were made up of circular letters. There were 3,898 submissions from individuals or organisations.
One of the key submissions has come from the largest union group in the State, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, which represents 682,000 workers.
ICTU backs legislation to give effect to the Supreme Court decision in the X case to "ensure that where there is a real and substantive risk to the life of the mother, facilities to legally terminate pregnancies are available in this jurisdiction."
In its first formal contribution to the abortion debate in Ireland, the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, which carried out abortions on 2,504 women giving Irish addresses in 1998, said Irish women should be able to access abortion services in the Republic.
The Green Paper on abortion, which was published in September 1999, outlined seven options. The Government referred the Green Paper to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution. The committee invited submissions from the public and interested parties and has been sifting through them since last November.
It is anticipated that the public hearings will begin by the end of next month. They are expected to last several weeks. The committee will then make a report to Government. That report is not expected until after the summer.
The abortion issue is likely to cause political problems for the ail-Progressive Democrat coalition. Government. Three of the four Independent deputies supporting the minority administration have already called for another referendum.
Ms Mildred Fox has said repeatedly that if the Government decides on another option, she will withdraw her support.