Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to repeat what the previous two speakers have said. The three of us are probably going to make the same points. Yesterday I met with a law lecturer from a law school in Dublin who has carved out a niche in this area by undertaking a PhD. I also met with the same parent that Deputy Walsh and I presume Deputy McEntee met. I did not have an appreciation of this issue until I spoke to that man yesterday.

As a new parent myself, I know it is a life-changing experience to have a baby and for a new life to come into a family. That father relayed to me his experience of the transition his child has made and the impact it had on the family. The relief the family experienced when the element of negativity was all of a sudden replaced by positivity was something of which I had no appreciation until yesterday. As Deputy McEntee has said, I do not think most people have an appreciation of it. That is why this legislation is important although it covers a very small number of people. We are coming up to the centenary of the 1916 Rising, where the aspiration was to cherish all children of the nation equally. The definition and protection of the child has been put very much to the fore in the lifetime of this Government, with the creation of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and with stricter controls on how the State responds to and protects children from abuses of all kinds. The State has matured in its relationship to dealing with children.

I would agree with Deputy McEntee that Committee Stage of this legislation should be stalled until after the referendum. If successful, the outcome of the referendum may require further amendment to this legislation. When I met the group yesterday, its members brought that suggestion to me themselves. As regards the role of the GP, I know from my own family's experience that nobody will know a child medically better than the GP. The GPs should have a role in this alongside the existing ones. They are the people who have interacted with the children and looked after their medical needs from the time they came into the world. I do not see why they are not included.

As regards the age element, I know the group has met with the Minister of State and the Tánaiste. The families at the centre of this are concerned for their children and young adults, and are worried that if Committee Stage is rushed, there might not be an opportunity for them to further flesh out the changes they feel could make the Bill more reflective of what they want for their children. On that basis, I do not think there would be any need for the House to divide on this and I hope it does not happen.

This Bill is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the families we met yesterday. That man's absolute love for and adoration of his child has not changed one bit and has probably been enhanced. He may have seen what he could have lost, with the element of self harm and the dark place this young person found themselves in up until the time they could confront who it was they were. I ask that the Minister take my points and those of my two colleagues on board.

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