Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 19, to delete lines 30 and 31.

We addressed this issue on Committee Stage. There is a definition of "father" in different places in the Bill but this section has a particularly odd definition, namely, that for the purposes of this Part, ""father", in relation to a child, includes a person who believes himself to be the father of the child". There could be three or four people all believing themselves to be the father of a child under this provision. The definition of "father" contained elsewhere in the legislation, which refers essentially to the biological father of the child, is an adequate definition for the purpose of the Bill. This is a bizarre, esoteric definition that is liable to give rise to all types of problems and difficulties and should be deleted.

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