Ireland was criticised by a lobby group today at a UN human rights review in Geneva for rejecting other states' recommendations on abortion.
A delegate speaking on behalf of the Irish Family Planning Association told a hearing that the State's "restrictive regulation" of abortion was "astonishing".
She said Ireland had rejected six recommendations from peer countries: Spain, Denmark, the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Slovenia. It was "astonishing in a State that expresses such respect for human rights", she added.
A spokesman for the Society of the Protection of the Unborn Child cited the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Irish Constitution, and said the will of the Irish people had been expressed in a number of referendums.
He said access to abortion was not a human right and women's rights were not affected by the current situation in Ireland.
Ireland's Ambassador Gerard Corr said an expert group had been set up in January 2012 and would present a report to Government by the end of July.
He said of the total of 127 recommendations made by member States, Ireland had fully accepted 91. A further 17 had been accepted in part, while 19 has not been supported. These included a call from Slovakia to recognise Travellers as an official minority.
A spokesman for Iran was strongly critical of Ireland, saying he was concerned about incidents of racism, xenophobia and discrimination against Muslims and other minorities.
Responding later, Mr Corr said there was no objective basis for his allegations.
