Fianna Fail is to allow a free vote among its TDs and Senators on the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill.

At a meeting of the Parliamentary Party yesterday, Party Leader Micheál Martin today proposed that individual TDs and Senators be permitted to vote according to their individual conscience on the Bill and this was accepted by general consensus.
 
Mr Martin said it would have been preferable  to come to a shared, consensual view on the Bill. 

"However, given the genuine and deeply held convictions on both sides of the debate, it is clear that this is not possible.  In response, my view was that the most appropriate course of action was to respect these differences of conscience and allow colleagues to vote on that basis."
 
He said the Parliamentary Party reaffirmed its commitment to protecting the lives of pregnant women in this country, expressed its ongoing commitment to Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution and restated its determination 'not to seek to party political advantage from this issue.'