Results 10,381-10,400 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The purpose of this amendment is to change the definition of a DAHR procedure so that it includes certain procedures taking place outside the State, as the Senator said. The intended effect is presumably to allow the assignment of parentage under section 5 where a child is born in the State as a result of a DAHR procedure which takes place outside the State. I considered this issue in the...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Senators for their contributions. I would like to return to the reality for between 400,000 and 500,000 children in Ireland today. The Government's commitment to the Child and Family Relationships Bill 2015 is in the context of demographic data which confirm that more children than ever are living in diverse family situations. It is important that we consider the reality of...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We are only regulating one issue in respect of AHR. Clearly, broader legislation is required. Last week I outlined the range of issues involved. The Bill is the appropriate place in which to regulate the issue of parentage. It is the right thing to do for children who are born through DAHR. Such children are being born, but they do not have legal security in their families. We are...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: We have cohabiting couples.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: In the Bill we are regulating and making it clear that, in circumstances of AHR, the child's best interests demand that we move from the current postion which is unregulated and where anonymous and some identifiable donations are being used to one in which that information will have to be available and there will be clear consent. The issue of consent is unregulated and we do not have...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Children can do poorly with heterosexual married couples where there is drug or alcohol addiction or any of the other problems common in families.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It can happen in the case of lone parents.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The factor one considers when considering the best interests of the child is the quality of the parents and the relationship. One does not discriminate against or set up a hierarchy of family types.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: One legislates to put the best interests of the child at the centre and, from a public policy perspective, provide as much stability for the different family types as possible. The Bill is only one aspect of supporting families. Undoubtedly, children in all family types need a range of supports. No one more than I will call and work for the development of family support services in order...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is one of those wider issues relating to assisted human reproduction which remains fully within the remit of the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar. As the Senator is aware, the Minister is advancing policy proposals in this area. Those proposals will address issues regarding who may access treatment. In the context of measuring long-term outcomes, counselling of individuals or...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The purpose of amendment No. 8 is to raise the minimum age of a donor to 21 years. It appears to be to match the minimum age of intending parents. However, the basis for setting different ages is not arbitrary. The age of 18 is set for a prospective donor on the grounds that he or she is of full age and has the capacity to consent both to any necessary medical treatment and to give full...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 11 would require a donor to update his or her contact details on an ongoing basis. However, there is no clear method to enforce this, the point made by Senator David Norris, and no sanction if the donor fails to do so. If, as part of the donor information to be provided, we provide that it is mandatory to update details and the donor fails to do so, it could mean that his or...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Senator will probably accuse me of saying the same thing again but he asks the same question. The amendment would remove the word "any" from any legal or counselling expenses. This has already been discussed on Committee Stage as the Senator said. I explained then that the amendment would alter the nuanced meaning of the phrase which is intended to convey that in certain circumstances...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The purpose of this group of amendments appears to be to expand the effect of the retrospective provisions allowing assignment of parentage in relation to pre-commencement donor assisted human reproduction procedures. For clarity, I want to address this issue in detail and to set out the provisions that currently apply because this is a very important issue. The parentage of a child born...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Senator will see that these are basic constitutional points on who is considered to be the parent of the child. There is Supreme Court case law on the issue. The McD v.L. case makes it very clear that in a self-insemination situation, the man is legally the father. It is not possible to change the case law and there is very strong legal advice on this point.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: However, the man was deemed to be, legally, the father. There is very strong legal advice on the point and that adoption is the pathway to parentage in these circumstances. I am conscious of the situation of families with donor-conceived children pre-commencement. I received many representations from Senators and Deputies on this issue. I examined it intensively and I did want to stretch...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I discussed this matter on Committee Stage. I will go back to the point I made then. The scope of the Bill is to vindicate the right of the child to his or her identity in order to underpin the assignment of parentage under section 5. I considered including medical information initially and going into all the detail. However, in discussions with the Department of Health, given the...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The identity is known.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Therefore, he is the father.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages (30 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This amendment would remove the requirement for a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure to be carried out only by a registered medical practitioner or a registered nurse. The aim appears to be that the parentage of a child born through a non-clinical procedure such as self-insemination would be recognised under the provisions of the Bill. As I have explained, the provisions of the...