‘Irish abortion law could be amended’

The Ireland government will take a decision on the amendment to the Abortion Law after going through the report submitted by the expert committee, according to its minister for education and skills Ciaran Cannon.

Describing the death of Savitha Halappanavar as unfortunate and shocking, Cannon has said that people of Ireland had organised a rally condemning the Savitha’s death. “Our prime minister and deputy prime minister have expressed sympathy and anguish over the unfortunate death of Savitha Halappanavar. Abound 20,000 people took part in the rally. They wished that no similar incidents recur in future. I and Irish people in Bangalore express sympathy to late Savitha’s family members,’’ Cannon said.

The minister said that Ireland government had constituted an expert committee nine months ago on how to make the doctors sensible on treatment of women. “The committee might have offered various solutions and options. We have to go through them and take a decision,’’ he said.

Earlier, the minister has said there were around 850 students from India pursuing higher education in Ireland. “We want to double the number of students by 2015,’’ he said.
The minister was speaking at symposium on “Underscoring Ireland’s key growth drivers - Education and Innovation” as part of Ireland’s multi-city ministerial led education mission.

“India is recognised as having some of the most talented and hard-working students in the world and our top-class higher education institutions can provide an excellent education and also provide significant opportunities for career advancement in areas such as ICT and life sciences,’’ he said.

Commenting on the global talent, he said the Ireland was rated number one in the world for human capital which includes the quality of higher education institutes, the entrepreneurial mindset of Irish people and the ease and openness of employing foreign nationals. “In Ireland we place huge value on international talent, both in our education system and our workforce,’’ he said.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO of Biocon and Consul General of Ireland in Karnataka, has said India and Ireland should focus on cross border partnership to encourage innovation. “Ireland will be ideal partner for India in research,’’ she said.