Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 11 would require a donor to update his or her contact details on an ongoing basis. However, there is no clear method to enforce this, the point made by Senator David Norris, and no sanction if the donor fails to do so. If, as part of the donor information to be provided, we provide that it is mandatory to update details and the donor fails to do so, it could mean that his or her consent is not wholly compliant with section 6.Thus, for reasons entirely outside the control of the intending parents of the child, the donor's failure to update his or her contact details could be interpreted as meaning the donor's consent was void or uncertain and, therefore, could affect the legal parentage of the child. That would be a perverse and completely unacceptable result and would be seriously prejudicial, I believe, to the best interests of the child concerned.

The approach I am taking is in the best interests of the child concerned. At present, we know it is easier to trace people on the level of information which is now going to be required - the name, date of birth, address at time of donation and nationality. That information will have to be provided whether donation is made in Ireland or in another jurisdiction because the donation will not be acceptable in Ireland if that information is not made available in the other jurisdiction. The reason I made the provision is that I believe it is desirable that a donor update his or her information but I cannot see a justification for making it mandatory nor any way to enforce such a requirement.

Section 24(3) outlines the details of the information that needs to be given and provisions to enable updating of donor information on the register will be made by the Department of Health, under regulation. If a donor has given consent and one has the name and they have been informed of all the issues in relation to parentage, as provided for in the Bill, then it is far more likely that the information Senator Fidelma Healy Eames is speaking about would be made available. In the first instance we are moving from a situation where no information is available at present to many children, whereas now because of the consents and the identifiable donation, all of that information is available, unlike the current situation which is unregulated.