Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The approach in this Bill is that the right to information is the right of the child. The child will not be contacted with the request if he or she has not made a notification that he or she is willing to be contacted, so the donor cannot veto.

That is a vital component of the approach we have taken to consent in the Bill, so that if one is a donor and is making a donation, one will be told that a child has the right to that information at age 18 and one will be asked to give as much information as possible. The range of that information will have to be worked out, but there are fairly accepted international standards. I have a great deal of information on what has happened in other countries when they have moved from anonymous to known donation. We are saying that the donor cannot veto and that is an important part of the approach we have taken to consent. Once the donor is involved, the donor will know there is a register and that the child has access to that information and can be given all the details the clinic has at that point.