Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton has supported calls made by a former Director of Public Prosecution for the unborn to be represented by the Attorney General under the Government’s abortion legislation.  

Ms Creighton, who said she continued to have concerns about the legislation, said that she believed that it needed to be amended.

And she echoed calls made over the weekend by Eamon Barnes, who served as DPP for 25, for the attorney general to represent the interests of the unborn at all stages of proceedings and be empowered to initiate judicial review of a decision when doctors are considering a termination on suicide grounds.

Writing in the Irish Times on Saturday, Mr Barnes pointed out that, under the Bill, the mother can apply for a review of the decision if she is refused a termination by the two psychiatrists and one obstetrician provided for under the legislation.

He said: “She gets two chances to have the life of the foetus terminated . . . As matters stand at present, the foetus gets no chance to have its right to survival advocated at all or otherwise vindicated.”

“Surely,” Mr Barnes said, article 40 “calls for an equality of opportunity to have both rights to life adequately asserted”. He suggested that the attorney general should be the person to ensure that the constitutional right to life of the unborn should be vindicated at all stages. The attorney should also initiate any application for judicial review which “might appear appropriate”.

Speaking in Paris on a working visit, Ms Creighton said that the Bill currently provided “no mechanism for the unborn child”.

“The challenge for the legislature is to balance the constitutional protection for both.”

Ms Creighton told The Irish Times that “a logical solution” would be for the attorney general “to have that responsibility or role, or indeed some other officer of the courts. This would give some balance to the legislation and make sure that the right of the unborn child as enshrined in the Constitution can actually be vindicated. It would make the legislation more robust.”

Such a measure would “not necessarily” mean that the attorney general would come into contact with the mother, “but could perhaps review the file”. There were “a variety of legal avenues”, she said. But “there has to be some consideration given to it as we go through the committee stage of the legislation.” Asked whether the draft legislation needed amendments, she replied, “Absolutely.”

Ms Creighton said she still had deep reservations about the suicide clause, which would allow a suicidal pregnant woman to seek an abortion. “My views haven’t changed. I think the suicide clause is quite dubious.”

The Minister of State said she “would have no difficulty” with a second referendum on abortion. “Consulting the people is never a problem. But it’s not the intention of the Government at the moment. We’ll see whether this gains momentum or not.

Her comments came as a former Fine Gael TD declared his intention to vote against the legislation.

Independent Denis Naughten has announced that he will oppose the Government’s Bill if it contains the suicide clause.