The Pro Life Campaign has said that serious questions remain for the Minister for Health regarding the process that led to today’s appointment of the chairperson of the Three Year Review of the abortion law.
Commenting on today’s appointment of barrister Marie O’Shea as chairperson of the review, Síle Quinlan, spokesperson for the Pro Life Campaign said: “The Minister for Health gave a public guarantee that a transparent tendering process would be initiated to ensure the appointment of an ‘independent’ chairperson. This never happened and Stephen Donnelly must now provide a thorough explanation for what has transpired.
“This is not intended as a criticism of the person appointed today but rather it’s about ensuring proper openness and transparency in how these appointments are made. The Minister for Health acknowledged publicly that he was obliged by law to advertise the position via a tendering process but he never followed through with it. This demands an urgent explanation from Mr Donnelly. And he also needs to explain what he meant when he said in answer to a Parliamentary Question that a “small number of candidates, identified as having suitable experience for the position, were contacted and invited to apply for the role of independent Chair.”
“How does what the Minister said above square with the notion of a truly independent process to find an impartial chairperson?”