Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

The amendment has a lot of merit and I appreciate the proposer has indicated he may withdraw it. The Minister has said he sympathises with the sentiments behind the amendment. We need to give serious consideration to ensuring that birth certificates record the names of both parents, in so far as this is possible. There should be an onus on people to comply with this condition.

We have discussed in the House on previous occasions the rights and obligations of fathers which, presumably, will be addressed in the Law Reform Commission report. I am moved to support the sentiments of the amendment on the basis of a meeting I chaired with a lady calledJoanna Rose who was born as a result of in vitro fertilisation and the use of a donor bank. She was very anxious to identify her biological father from the point of view of her own health history, apart from anything else. She was also anxious to identify her many siblings, having estimated that she had 300 siblings because her father was a student who donated to a sperm bank. This is a very complicated area in which the rights of children come into play. I urge the Minister to explore this issue in depth and that the various competing rights and priorities be examined, particularly bearing in mind the right of the child to know the identity of his or her biological parents.