Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is great to hear from all the delegates. It is very appropriate that we have them here on St. Brigid's Day considering St. Brigid's really strong connections with fertility and new life and her perception of children. This whole conversation embodies what St. Brigid means to me. Regardless of how a child comes into this world or is carried, it is an absolute miracle. We need to grab hold of that.

Ms Merrigan's contribution broke my heart. She articulated so well the reality of the State not catching up with the reality of families. I am sorry that, instead of spending time with her beautiful children, she must come here to advocate on behalf of everyone's children. I am really sorry about that. A family, regardless of its manifestation, should be protected.

I have a few questions for the representatives from Irish Families through Surrogacy. Can they give examples of the difficulties families face because of our lack of legislation and our not being able to catch up as quickly as we should with the reality of families?

With regard to countries with best practice, I was interested in the reference to Canada. Is there any other country we should be examining with regard to best practice?

I had not thought before about the difference between parentage and guardianship. To me, as a complete layperson coming to this conversation and listening to the contributions today, it seems like there is a two-tier model. It does not seem that the children in the two categories would be equal. I would like the representatives to elaborate on this. Ms Cohalan mentioned it. It reflected what my gut was telling me when I was listening to Professor O'Mahony's contribution on the issue. I would really like to hear further comments. My partner and I are not married. Technically, we had to go through the whole guardianship process. My partner is a parent. The two-tier parentage phenomenon really bugged me. I can imagine it is grating for many other families. Legally, emotionally and practically, it seems a child could be on a two-tier road. I could be absolutely wrong. It does not seem like there is equality to me. I thank all the delegates very much. I really enjoying learning from all of them.