Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The judgment was handed down today. Obviously, it will be examined by the Attorney General and the Minister will be advised accordingly. This is a complex area and one on which all sides of the House should try to work together to see if it is possible to come forward with proposals which would meet with the support of the House. As has been said, it is a highly complex area. There are legal, social and ethical issues involved. Some 40 recommendations were made by a commission on assisted human reproduction which reported some years ago and it is important that the House and the relevant committee work in a collegiate way, if at all possible, to try to see where we go from here in regard to it. This is a service that has benefited many Irish couples. It must be properly regulated, putting patient safety first, and give patients the assurance that effective standards of care and governance are in place. It is a challenge for the House and the committee and I ask that everyone would seek to address it in a responsible way.

Obviously the Government and the relevant Minister, the Minister for Health and Children, will consider the implications of the judgment as it has been handed down on advice.

As for the other matter raised by Deputy Kenny, this is a matter for the Houses to decide on. It will be referred to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for discussion, as that is the obvious thing to do. I note clearly there is an acceptance that the granting of replacement tonnage under the scheme was not a compensatory scheme in any way but simply dealt with the possibility of people having the opportunity to fish again if they lost their tonnage through ships being lost at sea or whatever and that the handling of that scheme was dealt with appropriately in the Department itself.

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