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Updated 12.37pm
HEALTH MINISTER SIMON Harris has said he is “extraordinarily concerned” and “sickened” by undercover filming that showed a woman in a crisis pregnancy clinic in Dublin giving misinformation about abortion.
In a report for The Times (Ireland edition), reporters Ellen Coyne and Catherine Sanz secretly recorded a consultation in a clinic in Dublin’s north inner city between a staff member and a woman seeking advice on a crisis pregnancy.
The staff member advised the woman that abortion increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer and that women who have had abortions are “known to neglect their children”.
Speaking to RTÉ News, Harris said the reports were “very alarming, very worrying”.
I’ve asked for an urgent update on this. I will consider every possible policy option available to me to make sure that women are presented with factual, accurate information in relation to their own health.
Rogue pregnancy agencies have been operating in Ireland for over a decade without any regulation. There have been repeated calls for statutory regulations for pregnancy advice and counselling services, but successive governments have failed to legislate.
Speaking to reporters today, Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, who previously served as Health Minister, said the Government is currently looking into the issue of regulation.
It’s very important that all counselling and psychotherapy be regulated. It’s not just about abortion clinics, it’s about all forms of counselling. As things stand, almost anyone can say that they are a counsellor.
“They could have done a night course or a weekend course and put up a brass plate to say that they are a counsellor and that’s why it’s important that that profession be regulated.
“There is a whole process underway in Government to regulate what they call the allied healthcare professionals … I think it’s important that that be done as soon as it can be done. I know Minister Harris wants to do that,” he said.
‘Entirely untrue’
Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Dr Peter Boylan told RTÉ News there is no evidence to suggest abortion makes women more likely to abuse their children, nor does it increase their risk of developing breast cancer.
Doctors for Choice, a group that wants the Eighth Amendment to be repealed, said the “information” being given to the woman in the video is “entirely untrue and dangerous”.
“[Women] deserve evidence-based, unbiased information provided in a setting where basic first principles regarding counselling apply – where there is no agenda regarding the decisions they reach and the advice is non-directive.”
In a statement to RTÉ, Pro-Life Campaign spokesperson Cora Sherlock said: “It goes without saying that women facing an unexpected pregnancy should at all times be given accurate and precise information.”
However, she criticised the Government for commenting on this, saying they showed “no such interest” when counsellors from the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) were filmed “telling women to lie to their doctors and say they had a miscarriage if physical complications arose following their abortion”.
- with reporting by Christine Bohan
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There needs to be somewhere for the 80,000 workers to live if we’re bringing them in which then worsens the housing problem all over again so that’s not the solution. Affordable social housing is the only hope now plenty of people on good salary can’t get a mortgage no matter how hard they try. Stop selling council houses and houses previously acquired by the state they need to remain in state control should have never been sold off years ago.
@Paddy C: Did you bother to read the article, Paddy? Or did you just read 80,000 workers in the headline, and assume that they would all be new entrants from outside the state?
@N D K: careful now…
Down with this sort of thing…
@Paddy C: We need to build all of this, doesn’t matter how you move the ball around, those three cups can never fix it. Infrastructure now.
@Paddy C: that’s about the number of long-term unemployed.
So will our leisured classes be asked to get their asses out of bed in the mornings, to do a bit of work?
No government has ever tackled the dole-suckers, so is that going to change?
@N D K: You didn’t get the memo from Darwin? You know, the one about evolution…
@N D K: Yeah, lies.
@John Mulligan: I doubt it incentive isn’t there the more you work in this country worse off you are I’m paying a mortgage nearly 20 years havent had a holiday in that length either. Maybe 3 nights out a year at best I know plenty getting every allowance going plenty of holidays better cars less stress and financial pressure in the end I don’t blame them its not worth it no life this way and now no choice but to stay going. Hit the working man every time and those on low salaries are hung out to dry allowances taken away. People on carers allowance can even get heat allowance but if you’re on the dole you can sane with working family payment no heat allowance the benefits aren’t there working may aswel count the birds stress free lifestyle.
@Paddy C: people on carers allowance CAN’T get heat allowance which is very wrong and needs to change immediately. I see people struggling looking after the people they care for they need it badly.
@Paddy C: don’t know your particular circumstances, but 20 years and no holidays… Seriously? If you are an employee, you have a legal minimum of 20 days’ holiday per year. So none in 20 years is not the truth. Unless you’re self-employed, then that could explain.
And please, next time use more punctuation where needed in your paragraphs, it makes for better reading for everyone else.
@Jerry LeFrog: Are you seriously trying to lecture somebody on their punctuation? Perhaps you should ask a grown up to read through your comment with you and give you some informed feedback. Then ask them to explain the whole “throwing stones in glasshouses” thing.
@Jerry LeFrog: I bet he meant he had no holiday outside of the country and not no holiday from work.
@Paddy C: dole-suckers are looked after, to the extent that they can often be better off not working.
@Jerry LeFrog: holidays as in holiday abroad not days off never mind the punctuation it’s not an article just a response to one.
@Paddy C: a holiday in Ireland doesn’t count as a holiday?
@lesidees: 2 or 3 days down the country wouldn’t count no, but maybe you can enlighten us all any holiday you book abroad is generally 7 days +. That’s not the argument the argument is the benefits of working in a lot of cases don’t benefit social welfare,rent allowance,fuel allowance etc. The benefits left over after mortgage/high rent aren’t there nothing against anyone getting it hard to convince them otherwise that’s plain to see.
@Mike: you completely missed my point on holidays, but I won’t take offence. The main point here is that lots of people think they *have* to take a foreign holiday to feel they had time off work. “Ireland is too expensive”, “pottering around and enjoying your area is not a holiday”, etc.
As for the punctuation, I had to read twice to actually get his point. Not everyone is as perfect as “grown-up Mike”. Slight dyslexia doesn’t help me though.
@John Mulligan: thats a lie if ever I read one. Why don’t you live on the dole for three months and see how well you do.
@John Mulligan: bigot
@John Mulligan: Unfortunately, I sincerely doubt it!!
@Jerry LeFrog: I didn’t miss your point. I chose not to address it, as I believe you missed the original poster’s point and your opinion on is irrelevant. If you really have dyslexia, you should know better than to try putting people down over their writing skills. Shame on you.
We already have 80,000 men here,doing nothing,living in free modular housing,getting free money from the state,living the life of Riley,there called refugees,put them to work,at least soon of them economic migrants they said they want to work,now your chance lads,the government will say we need to bring 80,000 more workers into the country,there already here,where’s the planning for this to get done
@Billy Power: ffs, there is merit in tapping into that potential labour resource, but spouting dog whistle nonsense about refugees in Ireland is not the way to go about it
@Billy Power: Literally the point of least importance, you’re the reason theres nothing Billy, easily distracted by click bait.
@Billy Power: LIES.
@Billy Power: ask not what you can do for ireland but what ireland can do for you. Land of a thousand welcomes step over those homeless in the street and enter paradise just say can’t speak English can’t get job sorted can’t blame them it’s the system tick to the core.
@Billy Power: refugees are allowed and do work. Asylum seekers are not allowed work. Education is a good thing.
@Paul C: refugees do work, and are anxious to work and pay their way.
Unlike our home-grown dole-suckers.
@Paul C: Asylum seekers actually can legally work, once they receive a work permit. Perhaps you should try educating yourself next time before looking foolish again.
Don’t we have hundreds of thousands walking around every village and town in Ireland that came here in the last 2 years, but of course FFG will invite more
@N D K: no, we don’t
@N D K: they love a country road with no high vis as well
Could we repurpose the various asylum plantation barracks into housing for construction workers? Free accommodation for foreign construction workers, maybe add in some tax breaks.
@Freda Peeple: plantation!!! Where is the lol emoji when you need it?
Aren’t we building a children’s hospital…the best and most expensive in the world. Makes me proud that building…
The real problem is that there are way too many people in the world now , 8 billion . Far too many . 2 billion should be maximum number of humans . So many of those 8 billion people are quite simply the WRONG TYPE OF PEOPLE . So what’s needed now is a combination of events , natural disasters on an epic scale , famines , disease (incurable/untreatable would work best) , and war , real war that will kill MILLIONS , not these low level bits of wars that drag on and on and on and end up killing maybe a million if one is really lucky . Yes that’s what’s needed to get human population down to a manageable level .
@Jim Ryan: just vote for the fascist Green Party Jim and you will get what you want. Another decade of their policies should put us back 50 years and then the real fighting will start as there won’t be enough food to go around. The real Greens want a planet without Humans
@Jim Ryan: Totally agree, but capitalism needs the population growth to keep the machine running
@gregory pym: one of the most ridiculous statements of all times
Pretty damning how inept we are at building the things we need. We were once world renowned for our building prowess! But that was when we had a ‘boss’ to tell us what to do, we’re not able to be that boss is the problem, it’s like the kids have taken over and are just arguing about sweets. Nothing will be built here for for at least the next 30 years. it’s shameful.
I think most nations will be out on the Moon by the time we enter 21st century standards of transportation.
This report highlights just how deep Ireland’s infrastructure issues run—housing, healthcare, transport, and energy are all stretched thin. But adding 80,000 workers to tackle these deficits brings up a huge issue: where will these workers live, given our current housing crisis?
Unless we fix our planning system and prioritise value for money, it’ll be tough to attract and retain the workforce we need. Without real reform, we risk piling on short-term solutions instead of building a long-term plan that actually meets Ireland’s needs.
This report really hits home on the scale of Ireland’s infrastructure shortfalls—especially in housing, healthcare, transport, and electricity. The call for nearly 80,000 additional workers speaks volumes, but with our planning system as slow as it is, it’s clear we need a coordinated, multi-year strategy to make real progress.
Boosting productivity in construction would ease the pressure on workforce demand, but without bold reforms and smarter, value-focused spending, we’re at risk of just treading water. This isn’t just about more funding; it’s about sustainable investment that actually delivers on Ireland’s future
This is a report protecting the interests of the vested parties, like the CIF & Developers. There are enough workers but most leave as the abuses of workers by the Construction industry is well known, the bogus self employed contracts, not paying Apprentices or fulfilling their apprenticeship, bringing in labour on work permits from outside the EU countries & paying them cheap training rates. This is all about maximising the profits of the big players. If you want to know where we are in infrastructural builds, just look at the NCH, Oireachtas Bike Shelter & Security Hut, everybody must get their cut & the links between our Political Class & Developers/CIF is interwoven. Other countries can build infrastructure but crooked Ireland can’t, our Builders are building infrastructure elsewhere.
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