Committee stage of abortion bill to continue

The committee stage of the abortion legislation will continue today, with the contentious suicide clause to be discussed.

After the Government won the first vote in the Dáil last night it went straight into committee - where the Health Minister ruled out extending the legislation to cover fatal foetal abnormalities.

Discussion of the Bill in committee is not expected to conclude until tomorrow and it will return to the Dáil next week where the Fine Gael revolt is likely to increase.

The suicide clause has yet to be discussed in depth but the Health Minister James Reilly says it is very restrictive.

"There's no question in this bill of a situation arising where somebody could attend two psychiatrists in the morning and have a procedure carried out in the afternoon," Minister Reilly said.

"That might be what some people want, but that is not going to be what's going to happen with this bill."

Meanwhile Master of the Rotunda Sam Coulter Smith says he believes the clause should be removed.

"We are underpinning and putting into legislation something which isn't backed up by medical evidence," he said.

"That section of the legislation, worded in the way it is, has the potential to put us in a difficult situation."

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach Enda Kenny will be worrying that more Fine Gael TDs may yet revolt over the issue.

Yesterday, four deputies lost the party whip for voting against the Bill.

One of them, Peter Matthews insists he wasn't going against the Government.

"Yesterday's vote was against the bill," Deputy Mathews said.

"There wasn't anything further than that - there was no indication of voting against Government.

"Having informed my conscience and done a considerable amount of research with regard to everything affecting the bill… I was not in a position to support it."