Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am indeed. I thank all of our witnesses for sharing their legal expertise, research and lived experience with us today. It is so beneficial to us, as members, to hear their perspectives as we navigate through this exceptionally difficult and complex area.

Ms Duffy gave us a really helpful overview in terms of talking us through a typical male-sex surrogacy journey and while we understand that everyone's journey is different and that every country has different practices, it is really helpful to get a bird's eye view on it. When does Ms Duffy or her clients engage with the Irish State authorities?

I have a similar question for Ms O'Connell, who I thank for all of her research in this area which was very useful. I know she is very involved with LGBTI people as a group and some of the feedback we have had, particularly from the Departments of Justice and Foreign Affairs, is that sometimes they find out that people are going through surrogacy after the fact almost, when it is quite late in the day. If the Departments had that information in their pipeline, they would probably be able to better support people going through the process and also to plan better. Is there is an opportunity for Ms O'Connell to help to deliver that message to organisations and couples she is working with that might benefit from that?

It is fantastic to have Ms Bonnie here. She presented previously to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Disability Matters and I know her from my time on South Dublin County Council. She does tremendous work. It is so important to have heard her perspective today because that is what this is all about. It is about making sure that we are including the people who are most impacted by this. She very articulately outlined that for people with disabilities who are perhaps excluded from the adoption process, this may be their only lifeline. I would love to hear more about why she feels this is such an important option for people in that community.

I ask Ms Duffy to respond on when she and her clients engage with the State authorities and then I would like to hear the thoughts of Ms O'Connell and Ms Bonnie.