Abortion committee will not overlap with Citizens Assembly, says Simon Harris

The Health Minister has played down fears that a new Oireachtas committee on abortion will overlap with the Citizens Assembly.

Abortion committee will not overlap with Citizens Assembly, says Simon Harris

Update 5pm: The Health Minister has played down fears that a new Oireachtas committee on abortion will overlap with the Citizens Assembly.

Simon Harris says he believes the committee being set up tomorrow will only look at how to implement the Citizens Assembly's findings.

Campaign groups had earlier expressed concern that the committee would duplicate the work of the assembly through its ability to call witnesses.

Simon Harris said he thinks instead, the focus will be on issues like the wording of any such referendum.

"Obviously it is a matter for the committe to decide how to do its work rather than for me, but I would obviously think it best that it would focus its attention on how to progress and implement the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly from a legislative and/or constitutional point of view," he said.

So I do think that it's a distinct role. There's some degree of overlap I guess but I do think it's a separate and distinct role."

Earlier: TDs will tomorrow be asked to set up a committee to investigate whether Ireland should have a referendum on abortion.

The committee of 16 TDs and four senators will examine the findings of the Citizens Assembly which is due to report on the issue before the end of June.

However it has also emerged that the Dáil committee will have the rights to hold its own hearings on the subject before making a final recommendation.

David Quinn of the Iona Institute says the committee was always planned, but believes its outcome is already determined.

“We know the Citizens Assembly is really an attempt by Fine Gael to slightly distance themselves from the holding of a referendum - so they can say it wasn’t our decision, it was the decision of the Assembly followed by the decision of the Oireachtas committee.

"But the whole thing has a huge sense of inevitability about it.”

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