The Tánaiste has intervened in the burgeoning debate on abortion - saying the current constitution does not serve the interests of women.
Joan Burton says any system which requires lawyers around a bedside, and not doctors, is fundamentally flawed.
The people I want to see around the bed are the doctors, not the lawyers.
The notion that to get appropriate medical treatment [...] you have to go to a lawyer, to get to your doctor - I think as a society we have to ask ourselves a fundamental question: Hold on, is this right?"
Echoing Leo Varadkar, she says the eighth amendment - which gives equal weight to the lives of a woman and her unborn child - is fundamentally damaging to the lives of women.
"In my view the Eighth Amendment does not actually serve women well, when issues of their live, their safety, their health are in question," she told political correspondents at a Christmas interview today.
But she's echoed comments of the Taoiseach and other ministers by saying there will be no urgent action to change Ireland's regime.
"There are no easy answers on this - I mean people who offer right-on solutions on either extremes, I think - you know - are doing a disservice," she said.
She added that there is no legally perfect situation - and that no constitution, no matter what it were to say, would be able to cater to every possible circumstance that can be presented by modern medicine.
Her comments mean it is now virtually certain that no new laws will be introduced under the current government - particularly given the political capital spent legislating to implement the ruling in the X Case.
But Joan Burton's comments mean the issue is likely to play its part in the next election, whenever that may be.
