Regina Doherty: Government to start drafting abortion legislation from tomorrow
Employment Minister Regina Doherty has said her colleagues will move quickly on legislation following the referendum on abortion.
"Minister Simon Harris is bringing the matter into government tomorrow," she said.
"We will then start drafting the legislation and we would hope to have that within the next couple of weeks and then we just need to get the legislation into the house.
Asked whether abortion could be legal by October, Ms Doherty, who was at an event to discuss the state pension, said: "I think that's very ambitious given there are five stages of the legislation to go through.
Even though we got a resounding mandate on Saturday, there are still nine women travelling every single day until we get that legislation passed and that has to be our focus.
Ms Doherty added: "We have heard from some opposition TDs who were opposing the referendum over the weekend who have said they won't come out and frustrate the process, they will respect the mandate of the people and I think that's nice for them to have said that but they need to put those words into action."
