THE IRISH COLLEGE of General Practitioners will hold an extraordinary general meeting today over concerns among some of its members about providing abortions.

Some members of the group, which is the professional and training body for Irish GPs, have said they do not wish to provide the service because of a conscientious objection to doing so.

Following May’s referendum result, in which the constitutional ban on abortion was overturned, the group held a consultation to assist with the development of clinical guidelines.

Its director Dr Tony Cox said that, as a new health measure, there were “a lot of questions” about the service, and that the meeting was being held to give its members an opportunity to express their concerns.

“The College’s remit is to ensure that a safe, quality and patient-centred service is available to patients and that members who wish to provide the service are properly trained and supported,” he said.

Members first called for an EGM in October, but the group rejected that as being procedurally invalid, before convening today’s meeting to enable further discussion and debate.

It is expected the landmark bill to regulate abortion services in Ireland will pass in the Dáil in coming weeks.