Brendan Howlin: Ministers who vote against abortion bill should quit

Ministers who vote against the Government in an upcoming bill on repealing the Eighth Amendment should resign, Labour leader Brendan Howlin has said.

It comes as the Independent Alliance is demanding a free vote when Bríd Smith of the AAA-PBP brings a bill before the Dáil to allow a referendum on the Eighth Amendment.

But Mr Howlin said “it’s a matter for the Government to sort out their own house”, but added that any member of government who disagrees with cabinet should step down.

“Under the Constitution, there is a constitutional imperative that the Cabinet acts as a collective. That’s not a matter of choice, that’s not a matter of debate. That’s a constitutional imperative so it would be extraordinary in the extreme on any issue if the collective decision of Cabinet wasn’t adhered to at all,” said Mr Howlin.

“The long-standing convention is that any member of the Government who disagrees with the position of cabinet resigns from that Cabinet.”

Mr Howlin said the Labour Party would be supporting the AAA-PBP Bill which will be discussed in the Dáil on Tuesday.

Labour is due to bring a bill before the Dáil today, designed to tackle the behaviour of rogue crisis pregnancy agencies.

Mr Howlin said: “There are women who right now are being lied to in the most grotesque fashion, at a time of exceptional vulnerability.

“Women in crisis pregnancy situations are being told that abortion increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer, or that women who have had abortions will later abuse or neglect their children,” he said, adding this was “an appalling abuse of a position of trust”.