Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this important topic. Myself, the Minster for Health, Deputy Donnelly, the Minster for Justice, Deputy Harris, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, have all engaged directly with and have received correspondence from families affected by surrogacy. One cannot help but be moved by their stories but also by their desire to be recognised by the State as the parents of their children. Developing legislative proposals to amend the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 as recommended by the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy is the right thing to do. As legislators, it is equally important that we achieve this in the right way. This means considering and protecting the rights of all parties involved in the surrogacy arrangement.

Surrogacy has been and continues to be a complex legal and policy area both in Ireland and internationally. Surrogacy and assisted human reproduction crosses a number of policy remits across Departments and State agencies. Indeed, my fellow Ministers and I have witnessed first-hand the strong collaborative cross-departmental approach taken by our respective officials in developing policy and progressing legislative amendments in this area. The focus of my Department and our role in the development of this legislation is on ensuring the rights of the child are central to any policy or legislative proposals. In particular, given the work my Department has done on the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, we are conscious that the children born today will have questions about their origins and the circumstances of their births at a time in the future. We encourage all parties to consider not only these children's rights in the best interests of children today, but also how those children will feel when they grow up and look back as adults upon the circumstances of their births. When a child grows up and looks back on his or her birth, he or she will want to see that the rights of the surrogate are also protected in the process and to be sure that every part of the process was conducted fairly, openly and with appropriate safeguards at every step for all parties.

We recognise that Ireland today is a society where non-traditional family formations, including surrogacy, exist. The reality of the family unit is that it is evolving. Embracing the diverse ways in which families are formed and the ways in which they are visible, has made our country a better and more inclusive place to live. I am very proud to be working alongside my colleagues in this House on this legislation. I know the complexity of the issue is recognised across the House. I compliment the committee and its Chair for their work in bringing forward this really important report. I will continue in my Department to work with our colleagues in the Department of Health and in the Department of Justice to implement the recommendations of the report and provide those key legal rights for parents.

See this speech in context