Criminal investigations have been launched into four cases of euthanasia in the Netherlands after a sharp rise in the number of doctor-assisted deaths, reports the Guardian newspaper. The cases follow the opening of a criminal inquiry last year into the euthanasia of a 74-year-old woman who was described by prosecutors as “seriously demented” and legally incapable of choosing whether to die or not.

The law in the Netherlands changed in 2002 to allow doctors to end the life, on request, of people in “unbearable suffering”, for whom there is no prospect of improvement. About 7,000 people were euthanised by doctors in 2017, according to official records, up from 4,188 five years ago. Despite this rise in numbers, there is yet to be a single prosecution of a doctor involved but concerns have been raised that assisted death is becoming normalised.

The four cases being investigated have been referred to the prosecutor’s office by regional euthanasia committees and alleged they had found problems. The cases were then found to warrant criminal investigation.

GPs may use Government promises to introduce abortion by early next year as a negotiating ploy to seek “significant” fees for carrying them out. The fear was stated in a memorandum sent to the Cabinet this week. The document from the Department of Health says that in the past, “when the State has attempted to introduce new services by a specific date, the Irish Medical Organisation has negotiated significant fees in return and it is possible that it could adopt such an approach in the current situation.”

The document also said that although Mr Harris’s preference is to have abortion “delivered primarily by GPs”, he also envisages services being provided by other providers such as family planning clinics.

Regarding the potential numbers of abortions that will take place when the new regime is in operation, it says: “It is expected that, as in other jurisdictions, an increase in the expected numbers could be anticipated in the early years.”

Transgender groups are encouraging teenagers to use their ‘gender-change’ certificates to access sex-change treatments abroad, a leading Irish doctor has warned. Professor Donal O’Shea who works with adults and teenagers suffering gender dysphoria and who directs sex-change treatments told the Irish Mail on Sunday that Irish doctors are not concerned about people ‘self-declaring’ their new gender. However, “what is of concern is the potential use of the certificate as a passport to treatment that involved major hormonal manipulation and surgery, and we are already aware it is occurring, particularly in Poland where patients are told ‘Bring your cert.’” Medical professionals are concerned that, absent a psychiatric assessment, many more adults and teenagers may regret the changes that are irreversible.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has indicated he will help the Government guillotine debate on abortion so that legislation making it widely available will not be delayed.

He condemned recent filibustering by a group of rural TDs on road safety laws and said he will not allow the same thing happen for abortion.

The potential for using parliamentary debate to delay bills has developed because of the Government’s minority position in the Dáil. Mr Martin had repeatedly objected to use of the guillotine – deployed to shorten debate – by the last Fine Gael-Labour government, which had a large majority.

He told a lunch hosted by the Association of European Journalists that the “will of the people” must be respected concerning the referendum. The Fianna Fáil leader said “soundings” he had taken indicated there will be “nowhere near” the opposition to abortion legislation as there had been to proposals to tighten drink-driving laws. “The drink-driving one was frankly ridiculous,” he said. “But in respect of any Bill, where there is excessive filibustering and obvious filibustering, there is always a provision to call a halt to that by a simple motion in standing orders.”

A referendum to delete the ‘mothers in the home’ clause of the Constitution may not be put to the voters in October after all. The Government intended to delete the article in a referendum this autumn, but the Oireachtas business committee has decided they should give the issue a thorough examination rather than simple rubber-stamping the Government’s plans. They will not scrutinise the proposal in September, and a referendum might take place in 2019 instead. When the issue was previously looked at by the Constitutional Convention, 98% voted to expand the protection to include fathers and all other ‘carers’ in the home. The clause endeavours to protect mothers from being forced due to economic pressure from having to work outside the home.

Female same sex couples will now be able to register both their names on their child’s passport and birth certificate after the introduction of a Bill to amend drafting errors in previous legislation. The Bill was passed on Wednesday night by the Dáil and is expected to be passed by the Seanad before the summer recess. Once regulations are finalised for the autumn, female same sex couples will be allowed to retrospectively register both their names on their child’s birth certificate and passport. The original clauses in the Child and Family Relationships Act had not been commenced because of errors which meant that some rights were afforded only to the birth mother rather than to the “intending” parents.

Catholic primary schools will not be able to give priority access to children of Catholic families from September next year, following the passage of the so-called “Baptism barrier” legislation in the Dáil on Tuesday night.

The School Admissions Bill prohibits Catholic denominational schools from giving enrolment priority to baptised children in cases where they are over-subscribed. However, minority faiths will still be allowed to prioritise members of their religion in order to protect their ethos in cases where they are over-subscribed.

There is also a provision to allow all-Irish primary and secondary schools to give enrolment priority to Irish-speaking children. Mr Bruton said this would set a “high bar” for children who use Irish in their daily lives and not just at school. Parents would have to provide evidence of this.

The Taoiseach has condemned the special protection given by the Constitution to the family “based on marriage” as anachronistic for not including other kinds of families. He made the remark during a Dail exchange on the women in the home provision in the constitution. He indicated that Government would look at the definition of the family next year with a view to another referendum.

He was responding to a question from Eamon Ryan of the Green Party who recommended that instead of deleting the Constitution’s article on protecting mothers in the home, it should be reworded to support all kinds of gender-neutral, caring work. However, the Taoiseach said the Government want to delete the article as they believe it is “sexist and anachronistic”. He said that there needs to be a re-consideration of caring and the definition of the family at some stage. But for now, he added, “It is time to separate this idea that women are inherently linked with caring and family because a woman’s place is where she wants it to be and that is not necessarily in the home.”

He also said the definition of the family in the constitution, as based on marriage, “is anachronistic too” as, he claimed, it does not see one parent or lone parent families as families. Because of this, he said, the Government will look at redefining the family in 2019.

Medical professionals who have a conscientious objection to providing abortions will be legally obliged to refer patients to pro-choice doctors, under legislation published by the Government on Tuesday. The Cabinet approved the heads of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill, which provides for abortion in wide-ranging circumstances right up to birth.

The Bill does allow medical practitioners to conscientiously objection to executing abortions themselves. However, it also states that they must make “arrangements for the transfer of care of the pregnant woman concerned as may be necessary to enable the woman to avail of the termination of pregnancy concerned”.

Speaking after the Cabinet meeting, Minister for Health Simon Harris confirmed services for the termination of pregnancy “will be provided on a universal basis – so that cost is not a barrier for women to access these services”.

Responding to fears that persons recognised by the law as transgender men, but who are biologically female, might not have a right to abortion, it is understood Mr Harris has been advised the Bill will provide for trans people but is open to examining it further.

The Bill cannot be introduced in the Oireachtas until the legal challenges to the referendum result have been completed.