Labour set to lose two TDs on abortion vote

The Labour Party now looks set to lose at least two TDs in this evenings Dáil vote on whether to allow abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.

Wicklow deputy Anne Ferris has already announced she will rebel against the Government whip and vote for independent deputy Clare Daly's Bill.

There are now reports that Waterford TD Ciara Conway is informing her colleagues she will also support the measure, meaning an automatic loss of the Labour whip.

A meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party is currently underway, where they are hearing the Attorney General's legal advice, a second opinion sought by the party, and they will debate a motion calling for a free vote on the issue in the Dáil.

The motion itself is due just after five o'clock this evening.

Fianna Fáíl is calling for a free vote when the Bill goes to the Dáil this evening, and is urging Labour to follow suit.

Labour TD Michael McNamara said Joan Burton will not allow her party to have a free vote on the Bill because she was "afraid it might embarrass Fine Gael".

The Clare Deputy said the system in Leinster House gags dissenting views and legislation by members outside the Cabinet.

"I think the system gags all but 12 or 15 TDs, and maybe even they're gagged now by this economic management council – that the Tánaiste was so concerned about - before she got on to it," he said.