The Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution has set the end of November as the deadline for receiving submissions on the seven options outlined in the Green Paper on abortion.
The chairman of the committee, Mr Brian Lenihan TD, said it would "issue an invitation through notices in the newspapers, to individuals and organisations to make written submissions". After the November 30th deadline, the committee is expected to hold public hearings. At yesterday's meeting the committee members decided to focus on the seven options set out in the Green Paper, so as not to repeat the work involved in preparing the paper.
Along with public hearings, the committee is also expected to seek medical advice and independent legal opinion on the seven options.
The options include an absolute constitutional ban on abortion; a constitutional amendment to restrict application of the X case; retention of the status quo; legislation to regulate abortion in circumstances defined in the X case; a reversion to the pre-1983 position; and the introduction of a liberal abortion regime.
The Government has given the committee no direction or time limit for its deliberations. However, one committee source said "nobody was in favour of spending the next two years on this issue".