Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to block votes at abortion committee

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members of the Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment will block any further motions on the amendment if they are put down before the cross-party group completes its work.

Key party committee members are understood to have informally agreed the position before a likely formal request by Solidarity-People Before Profit TD Ruth Coppinger for a vote on Thursday to mark the five-year anniversary of Savita Halappanavar’s death.

The Irish Examiner has learnt that, if Ms Coppinger tables the motion at tomorrow’s meeting, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members will force a vote on Fianna Fáil’s shelved motion last week asking for no votes until the group’s work concludes in December. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil members said this is because of concerns that repeated votes could undermine the committee’s independent image and distract from its meetings.