Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte said she thinks that pro-life and pro-choice groups should be allowed present their case at the Joint Oireachtas Committee tasked with developing concrete proposals to implement the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on abortion. She had been “flooded” with emails about the committee’s work since last Friday, with 1,500 from the anti-abortion side and a smaller number, 86, from the pro-choice side. “I’m not objecting to that. I know it’s a generic email in many cases, but at the same time they represent a lot of people. I do think the advocacy groups should not be excluded,” she said. However, other members objected as they are anxious not to delay the holding of a referendum beyond a hoped for June 2018 date.

Meanwhile, two anti-abortion members of the committee, Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Independent Senator Ronan Mullen, have claimed the committee’s witness list is imbalanced.