Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know that no matter how careful one is in preparing the legislation in this particular scenario, difficulties can and will arise. It could be, for example, that the surrogate mother might have no other children and might decide to change her mind on that basis. What law will prevail then? Will it be the law of the country in which she lives or Irish and international law? Obviously any law would have to comply with international law. Is the legislation as proposed sufficiently strong to deal with the situation likely to arise? I am keeping in mind the desperate situation of would-be parents. They have made every effort to have a child and eventually have arrived at surrogacy. If that goes wrong, for whatever reason, it can be hugely traumatic insofar as the intending parents are concerned. It can lead to appalling disappointment and can impact on the rights of the child because now the rights of the child are subject to the laws of another jurisdiction where there may be a different interpretation. All round there needs to be a fail-safe system imposed, insofar as one can, and I presume the Minister has already done so in the legislation, to avoid the more serious possibilities I have referred to.