No date fixed for abortion poll - Tanaiste

No date has been set for the abortion referendum, the Tβnaiste told the Dβil.

Ms Harney said the Government had decided to put forward legislation which would be put to the people.

"If this legislation is adopted by the people, it can only be changed in a subsequent referendum. The Government has not decided when that referendum will take place, because, clearly, it would not be wise to proceed down the road of a referendum if we cannot build consensus, particularly among those in the middle, around this proposal."

The Tβnaiste was replying to the Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, who said Ms Harney had been reported in the newspapers as saying that her party would have a free vote at some point during the process in the House. "The indications are that the instruction to her party's whip is that the debate will be open-ended and that second stage will drift on until the spring."

Ms Harney said it was important that abortion did not become a party political issue and that there was no repeat of the divisiveness of the past.

The Labour leader, Mr Ruair∅ Quinn, challenged the Tβnaiste to outline her party's view on the referendum.

He said that the Government had decided to bring forward a referendum "to reverse the Supreme Court decision in the X case, which was to enable a young raped girl, who was under 14 years of age and suicidal, to avail of an abortion."

He added that many people in the House had admired the Tβnaiste over many years for her courage and forthrightness inside and outside the House.

"When did her party change its stated position on the issue of the X case and why?"

Ms Harney said she was not going to take lectures from Mr Quinn or anyone else on the issue.

When the Medical Council adopted its guidelines recently, the Government had felt it was then practical and workable to proceed to enacting in legislation the practice that existed in Ireland.

"There is no ideal solution in regard to this issue, as the Labour party is aware.

"The proposals put forward protect women whose lives are at risk during pregnancy, for the first time, and it puts on a statutory basis the procedures which are currently carried out on a non-statutory basis. I believe that is a major step forward for women in Ireland, particularly for expectant mothers."

Amid further exchanges, the Tβnaiste challenged the Labour party to say what it wanted.

The party's deputy leader, Mr Brendan Howlin, replied: "Legislate for the X case."