Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 11, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “ “Act of 2024” means the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024;”.

These amendments are to take account in the Family Courts Bill of certain family law related matters in the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act, particularly to proceedings under the Act related to parentage for children born through surrogacy. The President signed the Act into law this year and it contains a number of provisions to enable intending parents of children born through surrogacy, both in the past and in the future, to apply to the High Court for a parental order to have their parentage of the child established through the courts. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 currently provides that applications for parental orders may be made in the general courts as there are no family court divisions as of yet. These are family law matters so I am making amendments to that Act to include relevant proceedings under the Act within the definition of family law proceedings in the Bill, thus providing that applications for parental orders will be made in the relevant family court divisions once established.

The provisions in the Bill related to the in camera rule are also extended to surrogacy proceedings under the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act. The amendments will ensure only those parts of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act that relate to parentage and guardianship will come within the ambit of the family courts and that proceedings on other matters such as those related to human tissue retrieval and storage will continue to be dealt with in the general court jurisdictions. Any necessary amendments have also been made to the Long Title of the Bill resulting from these amendments.

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