Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 March 2015

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Averil PowerAveril Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:



In page 16, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:“(iv) understands that the child will be contacted by the Minister upon reaching the age of 18 years to advise her/him of her/his rights under this legislation.

(v) agrees to provide the information outlined in section 24 about the donor’s occupation, hobbies and interests throughout the donor-conceived person’s childhood.”.
Amendment No. 12 is designed to ensure that donor-conceived individuals are made aware both of the fact they are donor conceived, which is important in respect of establishing their identity, and of their rights to access certain information on the donor register. My colleagues and I will seek in subsequent amendments to expand upon information as set out in the Bill but it is important that people be made aware of their rights and that such awareness not merely be at the discretion of the parents. People, as individuals, have rights in and of themselves and should not be reliant on their parents to make them aware that they are donor-conceived or that they have an entitlement to certain information.

The amendment also touches on the type of information that may be made available to the donor-conceived person throughout his or her childhood. This is at the request of the Adoption Rights Alliance, which wrote to me and to some other Members on this issue. It is about the desirability of someone who is growing up having information about his or her genetic inheritance. It is not the identifying information that such people would get at the age of 18 but some information about the donor's occupation, hobbies and interests. To be honest, I am not certain how that would be done and I tabled this amendment because I agreed with the sentiment behind it. I seek the Minister's feedback in this regard although I am unclear as to what mechanism could be used for a child in such a situation to be in a position to access that kind of information.

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