Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The more we go into the detail of this, the more it becomes obvious - even though the Minister, her officials and the Government side are in denial - that we are ill-prepared for what we are doing. It has not been fully thought out. The most serious ethical, legal and other considerations are being raised. That is why other countries have taken a much more cautious approach to this by limiting it in various ways. They do it from what they consider to be in the best interests of the child and they put forward those reasons. From some of the Minister's answers I detect that there is a desire to be leaders in this area, so that we can say we are more liberal than those other countries. One of her answers within the last hour would have illustrated that.

There are issues surrounding children, however. We know from a child born to an unmarried mother and where an aunt assumed guardianship, that she was reared thinking the aunt was her mother. She subsequently found out that the person she thought was her aunt was her natural mother. We know from the testimonies of such children that has had an effect on them. I am astonished and a little appalled that we are moving in a direction that clearly has not been fully thought through. We are attaching a wagon to an ideology that may subsequently turn out to be very false indeed.

I ask the Minister, even at this late stage, to give pause for thought on the consequences of a lot of what she is doing. The fallout from this will have serious ramifications for children but we are told that we will pick up the pieces on that in a subsequent Bill and that it will be sorted out subsequently. In the area of children, however, I do not think that is a good enough answer, given the sad history this State has of failing children over many decades. The Minister should give pause for thought and follow a much more cautious approach that has been taken in other countries, rather than seeking to be ahead of the posse and to hell with the children.