Ms Julie Ahern:

Some assessment can be done in advance. Professor Conor O'Mahony would have set out to the committee how both pre-birth and post-birth assessments can be done together. However, as Ms Ward mentioned, there must be an element of post-birth best interest assessment to ensure, from the sale of children perspective, that it is all above board and no sale has taken place. That was well set out by the special rapporteur. Some of the assessment could be done pre birth, as Professor O'Mahony has suggested. There does, however, need to be an element of post-birth assessment. I do not think we can get away from that if we are looking at the situation from the point of view of the best interests of the child.