Prior warnings to pro-life people in abortion exclusion zones should be recorded by Gardai, although the implementation of such a system will be difficult for the force, according to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health.

The recommendation is made following its pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of the Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2022, which seeks to crack down on pro-life activities near centres that provide abortions.

Committee chairman TD Sean Crowe said: “The committee has recommended that a clear, practical and effective system of recording prior warnings be included in the Bill.

Their report says that the “recording of warnings would prevent multiple incidents of protests being organised by the same individuals”.

It pointed out however that, in practice, this will provide challenges as it appears that An Garda Síochána do not currently have the facility to record such warnings.

The laws will ban the presence of pro-life people within 100m of facilities that provide abortion if their actions are judged to either ‘intentionally’ or “reasonably” seek to influence someone seeking to have an abortion.