Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to commend the membership of the committee, particularly the chair, Deputy Whitmore, and the vice chair, Deputy Higgins, on the great deal of positive work it conducted. I say to the Minister that he has a great deal of goodwill in the room. He must accept that. While it will be difficult, it is good to hear that the Minister's own target is for the appropriate Bill to be completed by the summer recess. I am sure the members of the public who are present to witness this discussion will appreciate it. Like Deputy Bacik, I served on the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality a number of years ago when this matter arose. It is probably because of the sheer volume of legislation we were working through back then, in 2013 or 2014, that resulted in the matter not really getting any further. It would be remiss of me not to mention Senator Seery Kearney, my neighbour across the corridor here in Leinster House. Young Scarlett is a regular visitor. It always brightens my day to see her. I saw her earlier. I am very conscious of what other Members have said about the Senator's contribution to the debate.

As I have mentioned, I commend the committee for the very significant work it has done. At the heart of this report is a more compassionate and nuanced approach to families that rely on surrogacy. The implementation of 30 of the 32 recommendations contained within the report, which is impressive, will have a really positive impact. As all contributors thus far have said, this is a timely report. In tandem with the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 currently working its way through the Oireachtas, it will provide for both domestic surrogacy, as has been achieved in other jurisdictions, and the assisted human reproduction regulatory authority, which represents a pivotal step in providing adequate support and oversight in the area of surrogacy.

My time is very limited. I would like to allow all Members to have their say, but I will mention some things I am pleased to see both the committee and the Minister mention. These include support for families and the regulation of the entire area to ensure that there is certainty for all of those concerned and that the process is not overly burdensome, complex or bureaucratic, which can be a barrier in and of itself.

To deal with other jurisdictions, in particular those which do not have legislation in this area, as Deputy Bacik quite rightly pointed out there is also the overlay with the Geneva Convention and other provisions where we should try to note the willingness of other jurisdictions to work with us. Unfortunately, the number of families cannot be catered for in Ireland and therefore we will undoubtedly continue to look abroad. Written agreements between countries is something to which I hope we can aspire.

Finally, I take the opportunity to commend the advocacy of so many people. A number of constituents have contacted me over the past number of years, not nearly as many as are in the Visitors Gallery, and I have no doubt the committee members were inundated with queries because it is such an emotional and important issue. I am very fortunate to be a father of two fantastic children and as any parent would be, I am passionate about them. When you are doing so in a complex scenario such as surrogacy, I know it can be incredibly burdensome. That is why I want to take the opportunity again to commend the committee members for the great deal of dedication they put into this process and to repeat the point I made about the goodwill in the room.

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