Results 10,481-10,500 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The couple can both agree in the event of the embryo not being used. Obviously, the embryo is not in any circumstances destroyed. They can both agree that there would be onward donation if it is not being used with the consent of both. That is what I mean by directed donation.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It must be the consent of both. Several Senators have raised the posthumous issue but that is not being dealt with in this legislation. The assisted human reproduction Bill will deal with that issue subject to consent.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Senators will recognise that the approach cuts across the consent provisions completely. I empathise with the Senator’s point but the consent provisions we have made provide very specifically that when an embryo is formed for the use of a couple, both must consent to any onward donation.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: One can at the beginning say there will be a directed donation. If there is a disagreement at a later point, one cannot allow one partner to decide unilaterally on the use of the embryo. It has to be consensual. There have been several cases in the UK which have examined this issue. They were cases where the genetic material belonged to both but there was disagreement. It was found that...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It would not be appropriate for the Minister to contact directly a donor conceived child to inform him or her of his or her status. That is the job of the parents. The safeguards we have put in place to ensure a child is informed when requesting a birth certificate are as far as we can go in this area. While I fully understand Senator Power's position on the issue of information, we are...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Again, this is a children and family relationships Bill dealing with the issues I have already outlined. It is not an assisted human reproduction Bill. There are elements of AHR in it but it is not an AHR Bill. That is a matter for address into the future. It is important to note that. What we are trying to do is create a culture of openness. That is clear. There has not been a culture...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Based on annual reports submitted by fertility clinics to the Health Products Regulatory Authority in Ireland, the demand for AHR services is increasing. In 2013, there were 7,939 treatment cycles of IVF and frozen embryo replacement and 6,574 embryo transfers. A total of 971 babies were born as a result of AHR procedures, which represents approximately 1.2% of all births, and 20% of those...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The current situation is there are probably hundreds of children who have been born through IVF who are not aware of that fact. What we are doing through this Bill is providing a system whereby the information will be recorded and available. Information is moving from non-identifiable to identifiable and will be available. This depends on whether the parents tell the child of his or her...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I acknowledge we are legislating to improve the position and to ensure there is a culture of openness and that as much information as possible is made available to a child. From a public policy viewpoint, we are creating a mechanism where that information can be made available.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: What the Government does in this Bill is to give certainty to donor-conceived children with regard to their parentage. It will enable those who brought a child into being in mutual love and commitment to each other and to the child to be recognised as the child's parents. The Bill addresses the current anomalous situation whereby the second person, who may have shared in all the joys and...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have nothing further to add.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank the Senator for his concern but I am fine.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The amendment would remove the word "any" from "any legal or counselling expenses". However, this would alter the nuanced meaning of the phrase, which is intended to convey that, in certain circumstances, legal and counselling expenses may not apply. For example, on the donation of an embryo, counselling expenses may not arise on the grounds that the donors have already undergone...

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Broader.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: No. What it is intended to convey is if any legal or counselling expenses arise. I hope the Senator will accept that this is the intention.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The legal advice indicated to me that we could not extinguish the parentage of a known donor retrospectively. There are major legal issues when dealing with retrospective measures in law. My legal advice was that parentage could not be extinguished retrospectively.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Legally, he is a parent in law and we cannot change that retrospectively.

Seanad: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (26 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This section requires an expert to report to the best interests of the child in order to assign parentage. I have made provision that the court must be satisfied that the order is in the best interests of a minor child, as it is generally for a child to have security in his or her family relationships. However, the order is generally to be made on the facts of the case, as set out, rather...