John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know the Minister means well, but I am seriously concerned about this. What I am going to say is not about the Minister, but it may sound harsh. We have effectively largely eliminated adoption as a option for people who are not capable of having children. The right to adoption has dwindled to almost nothing in the past few years as a result of the collateral effect of well-intentioned legislation and regulation designed to ensure unregulated, irresponsible adoption does not take place. I fear yet another shutter is coming down for people who face the tragedy of infertility and I am concerned about that.

I have also spoken to people from assisted reproduction facilities and clinics and have, perhaps, taken a slightly different nuance from what they were saying. They expressed great concerns to me that for people for whom the only fertility options involve some type of gamete donation, this would become more difficult and perhaps end completely. They also felt that the proposals would inevitably result in an increase in fertility tourism. They also made an interesting point. I do not mean to use the hard exceptions to prove a case, but they made the point that among people who come from more traditional family structures, it is sometimes unappreciated how often there is divergent genetic origin compared to what they feel is the case. In those circumstances, a sort of constitutional conundrum arises, that some people will have a right to get biological confirmation of who their genetic parents are, but others at the moment do not.

In respect of amendments Nos. 32 and 33, amendment No. 32 would allow for the situation where gametes that were harvested in advance of enactment of the Bill and in advance of the current regulations, to be used without regard to the restrictions that would apply following enactment of the Bill. I understand from discussion with the Minister that for the purposes of the law, assisted reproduction does not exist in Ireland until the Bill is enacted, whereas, of course, it does. Perhaps, therefore, we are understanding this nuance a little differently.

In regard to amendment No. 33, will the Minister assist my understanding? Where a donor assisted human reproduction facility knows the identity of the donor, and the donor contributed a gamete to an embryo which was created under the current legal regime and if this embryo is used in a procedure which occurs after the new legal regime is signed into law, will the Act require the donor assisted human reproduction facility to send the donor details to the registry, even where the donor has not consented to that information being used? Our amendment would permit this to occur only where the donor has given consent for that transfer of information.