Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 39:

In page 28, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following:“(4) A person shall not perform a DAHR procedure unless account has been taken of the welfare and best interests of any child who may be born as a result of the treatment.”.

I will not detain the House long because we discussed the matter to which this amendment relates on Committee Stage. The amendment has been designed to introduce into law a provision similar to that which has been put in place in Britain. Again, we are facing into a brave new world scenario in the context of multiplex parenting and the various techniques employed in assisted human reproduction. In many instances, the desire of adults is to produce a child entirely from their own gametes, if possible, even in circumstances where it is not male-female parenting that is contemplated.We really do not know where all of this is going. There certainly seems to be a mentality in the western world that if it can be done, it may be done. This Government is proceeding quite rapidly down that road in this area also, with minimal regulation and disregard of what was traditionally understood to be the rights of children. I would have thought that given the uncertainty about what the future holds, in terms of technology, and the vested interests involved, from the point of view of those who provide assisted human reproduction services, they should be required in law at the very least "to take account". I realise those words are not massively prescriptive or demanding but the principle should be enshrined in law that they would be required to take account of the welfare and best interests of any child who may be born as a result of such procedures.