Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 42:

In page 34, to delete lines 1 to 21 and substitute the following:“Information in respect of other persons to be provided to donor-conceived child

35. (1) A donor-conceived child who has attained the age of 18 years may request the Minister to record on the Register a statement of his or her name, date of birth and contact details and confirming that he or she consents, on the making by a person of a request under subsection (2), to the release, in accordance with this section, to that person of that information.

(2) A donor-conceived child who has attained the age of 18 years (in this section referred to as a “requesting person”) may request from the Minister the name, date of birth and contact details of a relevant person.

(3) Where the Minister receives a request under subsection (2), and the donor-conceived child to whom the requested information relates has made a statement under subsection (1) that is recorded on the Register, the Minister shall send the donor-conceived child a notice informing him or her that—

(a) a request under subsection (2) has been made by the requesting person, and

(b) unless the donor-conceived child informs the Minister, within 12 weeks of the date of the sending of the notice, that he or she objects to the release to the requesting person of the information contained in the statement under subsection (1), the Minister shall release that information to the requesting person.

(4) Where a donor-conceived child to whom a notice under subsection (3) has been sent does not, in accordance with that subsection, object to the release of the information concerned, the Minister shall release that information to the requesting person.

(5) In this section, “relevant person” means, in relation to a requesting person, a donor-conceived child in relation to whom a relevant donor is also a relevant donor in relation to the requesting person.”.

Section 35 gives certain rights to donor-conceived children born from gametes of the same donor. As originally formulated, the section referred to “donor-conceived siblings”. There was some concern that this would be interpreted as constituting a legally recognised familial relationship. The section has therefore been redrafted to ensure this interpretation cannot arise.

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