Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. As I said, I wanted to raise this issue again. I know it falls under the remits of a number of Departments, including the Departments of Justice and Health. I also know that the Minister has met with the groups. In fairness, I believe he also went out to them the day they were here outside the Dáil. This is so frustrating for them. They hear a lot of very positive words in this Chamber and in their meetings. It is rare for everybody in this Chamber to agree on something but this is one of those issues on which we seem to. There does not seem to be any movement on it. I understood that legislation is forthcoming. That definitely needs to deal with the issue of international surrogacy. That cannot be left out. Are children who are in precarious situations, perhaps because of a health issue within the family, particularly if it affects the father, going to be left technically parentless? We all know they would not actually be parentless but they may be in the eyes of the State and that is really important. Some children could be stuck in a grey area. This is an issue these groups have been raising for a very long time. As legislators, there is a responsibility on us to deal with this issue, particularly when there is such cross-party agreement on it.

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