Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will try to be quick. One of the issues that stands out from what Professor Madden said is that double standards are not always necessarily pejorative. If we have different circumstances, it is understandable that different legal conditions may apply. Ultimately, however, and I do not think anyone would disagree here, the committee needs to ensure there are no double standards for children at the end of the day.

The words that one of the witnesses spoke before the committee last week are still in my head. They said that the best thing we can do for children is to support the certainty of parents and to prevent undermining parents, in order that they can parent effectively. That is the best thing we can do to support children. I apologise that I have been thinking out loud here a little. We need to ensure that, even if we have separate processes, ultimately the children will have the same outcome at the end and they are not affected and discriminated against in any way at all.

I wanted to explore a question with Professor Madden, who mentioned in a pre-birth assessment and a parenting order. I do not remember the phrase she used but she referred to the assignment of parentage at birth or very shortly afterwards. Could Professor Madden talk us through that? We had some conversations last week about the benefits of legal certainty. Equally, there was concern that this would not allow for the test of the best interests of the child and that any orders in relation to parentage should be done post birth. From hearing the witnesses who have been before the many committee meetings, there seems to be a divide in the pre-birth and post-birth issue. Could Professor Madden talk us through that? Dr. Tobin’s comments on that issue are welcome as well.