TDS AND SENATORS will today hear expert legal opinion on Ireland’s proposals to legalise abortion under certain circumstances.
The Oireachtas committee on Health and Children will be addressed by legal academics from the University of Limerick and NUI Galway, as well as a representative of the Law Library.
Members will also hear from Trinity College professor William Binchy, a noted pro-life advocate, and childrens rights campaigner and former Supreme Court justice Catherine McGuinness.
The group will also hear from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties.
The Bar Council had been due to attend alongside the ICCL, but an update to the committee’s schedule released last night saw the group removed.
A spokesman said the body had not formally accepted an invitation to attend, and that it had decided not to send its chairman David Nolan because it would be impossible to adequately reflect the variety of opinions among barristers.
Tomorrow’s third day of hearings will include representations from interest groups including religious bodies, as well as submissions from pro-life and pro-choice groups.
This week’s hearings are being held in the Seanad chamber in order to accommodate more Oireachtas members than an ordinary committee room could allow.
Yesterday’s meetings saw a significant number of questions from TDs and Senators who are not members of the 21-strong committee.
TheJournal.ie will carry a live stream and liveblog of today’s hearings from 9:30am.
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