Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have a question for the guests from the Department of Health. In his statement, Mr. O'Connor said there is a rush on the AHR legislation because it will impact many children, regardless of whether they are born through IVF or domestic surrogacy, and that Ireland is not really a laggard when it comes to international surrogacy comparisons. Consequently, the sense I got from him was that there was not much emphasis on moving quickly on the issue. How many children are born through domestic surrogacy by comparison with surrogacy abroad? The child's rights should not depend on where he or she is born, be it here or abroad. We need to protect the rights of the child. Did Mr. O'Connor compare domestic figures with international figures when ascertaining how quickly he wanted to move on the AHR Bill?