Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and the Minister of State for their contributions. It is so welcome to hear such strong statements of support for the recommendations and for the families. It is also extremely important. Many families will leave here this evening heartened by what they have heard, particularly concerning the commitments made by the Minister for Health to get this legislation through the Houses as quickly as possible. Speaking on behalf of my party, which I think others will echo as well, we will work with the Government to get this done as quickly as possible.

It is not often we have a discussion on surrogacy without hearing from Senator Mary Seery Kearney, so I have had a text from her. She would just like to say that in these Houses we speak about changes we are making and we work together to make and influence change. We rarely have people present immediately who are affected by the subject matter we discuss and it has been an extraordinary experience for her to be part of the joint committee, knowing and understanding the reservations members may have had. The journey undertaken by the joint committee was one that destigmatised families through surrogacy and gave honour and respect to them as families, parents and children. Recognition of these legal entitlements by the State is very important recognition of the rights of these families and will afford them the constitutional protections of a family. Senator Seery Kearney passes on her thanks to all the members of the joint committee for the work it has done. It is crucially important to have heard from her because she has been such a huge part of this undertaking and so influential on this issue. Indeed, when I first found out I was chairing the joint committee, I spoke to her. She eased my worries, because I was quite worried at the start regarding what the committee process would mean and how complex and divisive it could be.

Actually, what I found instead was the complete opposite. Once we were given the evidence and heard the stories, we knew what the right thing to do was. It is important to remember this aspect. What happened while the joint committee was sitting, what has happened since then and what has happened here this evening is the perfect illustration of how politics should be. This is what politics should be. We should have instances where people who have been failed by the State, for whatever reason, go to politicians, express their concern and tell us how they have been impacted, and then we take that information on board, listen to what has been said and to other experts, and then come to a decision on how can we rectify the issue. It is great that we can have this debate. As has been said, there is such enormous goodwill here for this process and the recommendations. I look forward to the day when we are in this Chamber and the Bill is finally passed. We will then finally be able to give all those families in the Public Gallery the certainty and clarity they need that they have sought for so long and that they deserve. This is exceptionally important.

I also thank all the departmental officials, because I know this has been a huge volume of work for them to undertake. I pass my thanks and regards on to all of them. I also thank the Vice Chair of the joint committee, Deputy Funchion. Indeed, I thank everyone very much.

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