The Irish Catholic bishops have told the Taoiseach that the Government's apparently neutral position on the funding of embyronic stem-cell research in the EU is "not an option."
In a letter sent on their behalf to the Taoiseach on November 6th and published yesterday, they said: "The public impression is that the Irish Government is neutral on this matter, and the Irish delegation is understood to have made it clear on several occasions that it would not oppose the Commission proposal allowing for EU funding of destructive embryo research."
They added: "We believe that this is an issue so fundamental that neutrality is not an option. We believe it is vital that the Irish Government should communicate to Commissioner Busquin and to the other delegations in the Council of Ministers, and in particular to the Italian presidency, that it is indeed opposed to joint funding of research on human embryos and on embryonic stem-cells."
Yesterday the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, repeated the Government's decision to support the EU Commission position on the use of surplus embryos for stem-cell research.
"We certainly want to see controls and a regulatory environment for embryonic stem-cell research," she told The Irish Times. However, the Government would reserve its decision on whether to vote in favour of the proposals at the November 27th Council of Ministers meeting, which she will attend.
Ms Harney said she wanted to hear the specifics of the Commission's compromise proposals. She also wanted the benefit of hearing the European Parliament's views, which will come next week after a debate on November 18th. The Seanad has planned a debate on the issue for November 20th.
The Tánaiste also expressed a readiness to address a meeting of the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business on the issue. The committee voted last week to reject the Commission's proposals on embryonic stem-cell research. Some members complained that the Tánaiste had been unavailable to answer questions regarding the Government's position.
Following a meeting with the Taoiseach on October 29th the bishops said they understood his concern that, "should the Commission proposal not be adopted, an unregulated position might ensue."
However, they would argue that the consequences of a formal decision of the Council of Ministers explicitly agreeing to destructive embryo research would be very far-reaching.
They wished to emphasise the crucial significance of Ireland's position on the issue "in view of the fact that the Constitution of Ireland is known to afford protection to human life from its beginnings".
They recalled recent comments by Commissioner Busquin when he suggested: "As the Irish Government appears willing to support the Commission proposal, it is difficult to see why other countries which offer less constitutional protection to the unborn should have any difficulty with it."