Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill in general, and this has been a feature of contributions today and yesterday. Such an attitude arises from the fact that something needed to be done and we have waited far too long for this to come through. That was as a result of issues outside of the control even of the Minister and her predecessor, but it is important legislation. The fact that so many umbrella groups of family and child-centred organisations are supporting it, despite some areas of concern, is an indication that we would be left in limbo, as we have been for the past almost 40 years in the State, without the Bill.

It is complex legislation with 172 sections. I am not a solicitor or barrister and would not even pretend to say I understand the Bill. One would almost need somebody to work through all the aspects of the Bill. It will need serious scrutiny on Committee Stage and examining it with the participation of all Members is very important. There may be unintended consequences, as mentioned by other Deputies.

I welcome the main thrust of the Bill in placing the interests of children centre-stage and recognising diversity of family life in modern society. As I indicated, the Bill is long overdue. Those who oppose it and the same-sex marriage referendum are attempting to propose a narrow, religiously based view of the family which no longer corresponds to the reality of the family unit today. It does not reflect the family unit of 30, 40, 50 or 60 years ago either. How many of us have sat down with family members only to find that an aunt was really somebody else or had to go to Britain to have a child, or that there was a cousin or uncle in Britain, America or Australia? Children who thought they were reared by their mother have been reared by grandmothers, sisters or aunts. Family life has always been as complex in Ireland as in any society, because no society in reality has realised the rose-tinted vision of every family being a nuclear family with a married mother and father. This legislation is required to get us past the first and second steps on the road of putting children's interests first.

There is a requirement for a register of assisted human reproduction donors, and the automatic right of children conceived through that process to access information on the identity of the donor when they are 18 is important. As others have noted, the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has concerns in this respect, so perhaps the Minister will address this when summing up. Will she take these points on board? The fact that people cannot get this information until the child turns 18 is a concern.

Although I generally welcome the Bill, I note the concerns that have been raised by various groups about costs for families going through the courts. Will resources be made available to enable courts to put the interests of children first? There is also the question of child advocates. Will they be registered and what level of qualification will be required? Who will pay them and how will they advocate for children who cannot speak, have not reached speaking age or have disabilities? How will this link with the family courts, which already have large backlogs of cases? Much resourcing will have to be provided to family courts to deal with this. Should we have a children and family court advisory support service, as there is in England and Wales? What is the Minister's opinion on such an initiative? Would this be independent of the courts, the social services, education and health authorities?

I am also concerned about some issues related to birth fathers. I am not convinced of the arguments I have heard and the matter must be teased out. Everybody deals with complicated family issues each day of the week and each of these can leave grandparents, stepmothers and stepfathers or gay and lesbian people in limbo. There can be cases of family break-up with no acrimony but other cases may be very acrimonious. We must take everything into account.

I listened carefully to Deputy Shatter's comments. I am sure they will be examined with regard to what the Minister is putting in the Bill and if the ideas merge. As I have indicated, the Bill is welcome but needs serious scrutiny on Committee Stage.

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