David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We need a wider note. That would be helpful. The Department will have had many discussions and internal deliberations on these issues and I imagine that all sorts of scenario were discussed. I hope that challenges will be rare, but it is always the rare cases that become problems. It would prepare us for Report Stage if we had a much more detailed note on the time between birth and a parental order, some of the issues that might arise if a surrogate mother decides for whatever reason that she is not happy with the agreement, what the options are, what her rights are, what the rights of the intending parents are, what the status of the child is, etc. In many ways, these matters go right to the heart of the Bill. Obviously, we cannot get the direct legal advice, but a variation that provided us with an understanding of it would be important. Many issues can arise in the intervening period. They will only happen rarely, but when they do, that is when they will become a problem. We need to think it all through or at least have as much of the information that the Department has as possible. A note on this would be important for us ahead of Report Stage. Given that we have discussed this matter, we will have a right to submit amendments on Report Stage, if necessary, given that they would arise from Committee Stage. A note may or may not allay some of our concerns, but it would be great if it was supplied to us.