David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a useful time to get clarity on that process in respect of a parental order and what happens from the time of birth until a parental order is granted. We had some lengthy discussions with the Minister's officials on that issue when we got a briefing. One of the issues was the capacity of the courts to make a decision and hear these cases, and what would be a reasonable timeframe for a parental order to be granted or for a hearing.

Obviously, that will be an important part of it because we do not want a lengthy gap between the birth and a parental order being granted. However, my understanding of the briefing we got was that the intending mother would be a guardian of the child until such time as a parental order is given, in which case all rights of the birth mother would then be extinguished by virtue of the court order. I would appreciate if that could be clarified.

Other issues arose in terms of status, so it is just important for us to get clarity. If the intending mother is a guardian, does that intending mother have access, for example, to maternity leave and other entitlements under social welfare protections? There are other issues Deputy Shortall raised with regard to other rights of that mother in the intervening period. It is such an important part of the process and there is that gap. There is maybe some confusion as to what the intending mother may or may not be entitled to. I would like to get clarity on that main point that the intending mother would be a guardian until such time as there is a parental order. However, what rights then in terms of social protection and other legal rights does the mother have or maybe not have from the point of having guardianship to a full parental order, if that makes sense? I will leave it at that.