TÁNAISTE EAMON GILMORE said he will not condemn the Catholic Church or any other church that wishes to express a point of view on the new abortion legislation.

Speaking during Leaders’ Questions, Independent Waterford TD John Halligan called on the Tánaiste to condemn the Catholic Church for attempting to “intervene” in the running of the State. He highlighted details from a statement issued by the Catholic bishops which said “that people are being mislead and that it is not necessary for the government to legislate”. He said that an organisation like the Catholic Church is:

non democratic, anti-democratic, historically anti-woman and has the most dreadful record of child protection and has no right to be this country’s moral compass or to lecture anyone on human rights…

In reply, Gilmore said:

It is my view that the Catholic Church, all churches and every citizen of this state have every right to state their point of view to government on any issue that is of public importance.

Halligan said there was a number of disturbing cases being reported about the level of abuse and intimidation TDs had been experiencing from pro-life campaigners and the Catholic Church.

I myself have subject to abuse. I have even had people come to my house after 12 o’clock at night. There have been several serious cases of verbal abuse aimed at TDs. Some have been ambushed outside of their house, they have been spat at, they have been threatened that there house will be burned down and one has even been threatened with having her throat cut.

Gilmore said it was the Government’s job to legislate for the whole country, but conceded that he did think that some of the points made by some organisations have been “exaggerated”. He added that it was important not to lose sight of what the coalition is trying to achieve. He said the new legislation was being introduced to protect the life of women in pregnancy.

There are only a small number of occasions where a women’s life is at risk, he continued, but because of this, there was a need to legislate in order to “provide clarity so their lives are safe in our hospitals”, adding that “sometimes the termination of a pregnancy is necessary to save the life of the mother”.

He asked that while the debate is ongoing, people ought to voice their opinion in a “reasonable way”. He said: