Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like other speakers, I commend the Bill and congratulate the Minister on bringing it forward. It is fair to say it is of benefit to the framing of the Bill that the Minister spent time as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I certainly believe that has given a breadth and depth to it that maybe would not have been possible otherwise. It is hugely reforming in the same way that the civil partnership Bill was a couple of years ago.

I want to deal with three aspects which are central to the Bill: donor-assisted human reproduction, adoption and the Guardianship of Infants Act amendments that occur in the legislation. With regard to donor-assisted human reproduction, I believe the impending surrogacy legislation will have an impact on this in so far as it seeks to deal comprehensively with all forms of family formation, and donor-assisted human reproduction will certainly be a part of that.

With regard to adoption, the Bill seeks to put children first. As Deputy Neville said, the fact children's views are being taken into account for adoption, guardianship and custody is very important. Some who are against the proposals in the Bill say that a child is best reared in the family home with the biological father and mother. While I do not think anybody disputes that, children who become available, for want of a better word, for adoption are not going to grow up in that environment. I have had experience of children who lived in residential care for whom that experience was mixed and certainly not the most desirable, although at the time it was in their best interest. We have done everything we can to move away from that system, as is only right and proper. The adoption laws in this country, including those concerning inter-country adoption, are comprehensive to the point that some would consider them restrictive. However, this is always in the best interests of children.

With regard to the guardianship of infants and the whole issue of parenting and parents' rights, a lot has been said about unmarried fathers, in particular the time periods of 12 months and three months with the mother. However, there is one group that may not have been dealt with comprehensively. I sent an e-mail to the Minister's office last week, having been contacted by a constituent who is a separated father. He is a very upset, emotional and dejected individual who has taken joint custody of his children. As his ex-spouse is now remarried, under the new laws he does not qualify for tax relief as a single parent. This issue should be looked at. Likewise, he feels the legislation further dilutes his rights in so far as the legislation would make the mother's right supreme in the Constitution whereas the separated father's right would have to be dealt with through primary legislation, even though in this case he is the biological father. This also needs to be clarified.

I appreciate there are many scenarios where fathers, be they separated or unmarried, take no responsibility for their children and have no interest. There are provisions in the Bill to deal with this and there is recourse to the courts, which is very much to be welcomed. However, I hope cognisance is taken of the many fathers, separated or unmarried, who want to be active participants and want to bring their children up in, as it were, as normal an environment as possible. We should not lose sight of this. I ask that the Minister, when considering her response or when this Bill goes to Committee Stage, would consider a specific reference to separated fathers because there is some feeling of ambiguity in the legislation with regard to their status.

This man went on to suggest that even if his ex-spouse had more children, she could actually come back through the courts to him for more maintenance, which I think bizarre if she is in a stable married or civil relationship and when it is a case of children of whom he is not the biological father. It is a point that was made to me. While it may not be relevant, the Minister can understand where this person and people like him are coming from. I ask that this sort of issue be dealt with because it would be a pity for such comprehensive, reforming and welcome legislation to leave a few people out of the loop when such an effort has been made to deal with this in a comprehensive fashion.

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