A government minister says the current Dáil and Seanad should respond to the findings of the Citizens Assembly - and not leave them for the next one.
Paschal Donohoe was responding to the findings of the Assembly, which says abortion should be allowed in all circumstances up to 12 weeks of gestation.
But as yet there is no comment from the government as to whether it will accept the findings and put them into law.
Quick refresher of what the Assembly voted in favour of pic.twitter.com/dTJLAXyXeD
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) April 24, 2017
Over the weekend the Assembly voted to replace the current Eighth Amendment - which gives legal equality to a pregnant woman and her unborn child - with a clause giving the Oireachtas the right to set out its own law on the subject.
It then recommended that the Oireachtas use this proposed power to introduce laws allowing access to abortion in all circumstances, regardless of reason, for the first 12 weeks of gestation.
It also voted to allow abortion in cases of rape or incest up to 22 weeks, and to full term in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.
The proposed system is far more liberal than many observers would have expected - but will only become a reality if the power to legislate is first cleared by an Oireachtas committee, then by the Dáil and Seanad as a whole, and finally approved by the public in a referendum.
After that, the Dáil and Seanad would then have to pass separate legislation allowing for the more liberal regime.
Our political correspondent Gavan Reilly filed this report for Today FM's National Lunchtime News:
