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

I will be brief as time is of the essence in this session. I thank Professor Madden and Dr. Tobin for coming to the meeting to share their expertise with us. Dr. Tobin said we have the tough task of making our deliberations within a tight period of time. We can only do that because of experts like him, so I thank him. I was interested to hear both witnesses talk about the need for legislation and regulation for international surrogacy. That is a key point we have heard repeatedly from experts in this field. That is our remit, so it is encouraging to hear that again.

Professor Madden spoke a little about the UK experience and about something I have raised in this committee previously, which is the need for as much as possible to be done in advance of the birth. I know that is difficult when one is dealing with different countries with different rules and regulations, but I fully agree with her on that premise. Dr. Tobin spoke about the Verona Principles, which was very interesting. I did a lot of work with the Adoption Authority of Ireland a number of years ago and a question I have put to others previously is whether we should be looking at having bilateral agreements with countries where the Verona Principles are applied. If we do, is that practically possible, given that, as Professor Madden said, we cannot control whether or how another country regulates? That is the challenging circumstance in which we are operating. I would value the input of both witnesses on that question. What do they think the ideal would be in terms of how we can deal with the countries that do this best?