Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue that I raised on 31 January 2012 concerning the landmark ruling that was made in the courts yesterday on assisted human reproduction. In January 2012 I asked what was the status of the Report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, an eminent report prepared under the chairperson of Professor Dervilla Donnelly. That report contains 35 recommendations on assisted human reproduction. We have seen again where the legislators have been superseded and the Judiciary has taken a decision that the Oireachtas will have to examine. A very serious decision on assisted human reproduction was taken yesterday and legislators will have to catch up with the Judiciary. I ask that the Report of the Commission of Assisted Human Reproduction, which contains 35 recommendations and which is nearly ten years old, be discussed in this Chamber and that the Minister would come into the House and make a statement on where we are at in this respect. The genetic parents won their case yesterday to have the biological mother recognised as the mother following on from the Registrar General refusing to record the genetic mother's name on the children's birth certificate. We had always understood the principle of mater certa semper est, motherhood is always certain, but now science has taken over and we, as legislators, have to catch up. It is not fair to have people in clinics and elsewhere self-regulating and legislation must be introduced to deal with this area. We have seen in every sphere that self-regulatory systems are not acceptable. This is a serious area that must be examined. I ask the Leader to arrange for this report to be discussed in the Chamber, to make a statement on this and to arrange for the Minister to come into the House to address this issue.