Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Pardon the pun but that is the net point of the amendment. However, there are wider issues on which we have not got clarification. What about the payment of maternity benefits? Does the current entitlement to the maternity benefit remain irrespective of whether the intending parents have guardianship of the child from a couple of weeks? It is not necessarily a matter of inclusion in the primary legislation, but we need a note on the matter to clarify what engagement there has been with the Department of Social Protection and how the various schemes will operate in a surrogacy situation.