Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin will be supporting this Bill in principle. We welcome the regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction, which will standardise access to and rights around IVF surrogacy and related research. This is a piece of legislation on which people have been waiting a very long time. The Minister of State and I can agree on this. People who have been in this Chamber much longer than us have been having these debates for a long time. It is very welcome, therefore, that we have reached this point.

Notwithstanding that, the Bill is not perfect and amendments will need to be made. I hope the Minister of State will be open to amendments and to listening to people. There are those for whom the struggle to start a family or complete their family is very real. Just because it might not be in her personal experience or mine, we should really listen to and be led by them. They are the ones really who are at the coalface in the context of this matter. It is estimated that one in six couples in Ireland is affected by infertility. It is a condition that can cause considerable social, emotional and psychological distress. When one meets with the families, which I know the Minister of State has, that is very real and evident. It is something people do not really understand because, for many, it is a simple thing and they do not think about it. Maybe not thinking about it is the reason it happens in the first place. It is not a struggle everybody faces but the fact is that one in six couples do. We do not talk about it very much. We talk about it more now than when I was younger but we do not talk about it enough because there is still something of a stigma attached. The message can and should go out from this Chamber that we are willing and open to have that conversation.

Alongside that, access to IVF treatment it is not currently available publicly and the private costs are absolutely extortionate. People get themselves into the most awful crippling debt just to be able to start or complete their family. It is really important that any decent health system would provide for compassionate services for women who experience infertility, including assisted human reproduction and IVF. Those services should include full cycles of IVF for qualifying couples as well as access to a full range of treatment options and counselling. The counselling and mental health aspect is absolutely essential; it is important to acknowledge that. There is a clear recognition of the need to adapt to modern requirements and modern methods and approaches to family creation.

There is a fear that the Bill will not go far enough, which is why I absolutely welcome the Minister of State's willingness to engage. Stakeholders told me they believe this Bill does not address the issues, such as a lack of route to legal parentage other than adoption for an intending mother of a child born through surrogacy. We must ensure that there are full rights for both parents. However that is done, we will work with the Minister of State to make sure it happens.

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