Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I was present for the enactment of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 in spring 2015. Parts 2 and 3 of the Act govern family relationships arising from donor-assisted human reproduction, that is, the use of donor eggs, sperm or embryos to conceive children. They create a legal structure whereby the commissioning or social parents of children born through donor-assisted human reproduction would be rightly recognised as the parents of those children. The Act also prohibits the practice of anonymous egg, sperm and embryo donation and creates a legal regime to ensure that children born through such a process will be able to find out the contact details of the donor and try to make contact if they so wish. The ultimate purpose of the provisions is to vindicate the child's right to identity. However, Parts 2 and 3 have not yet been commenced. There has been a delay of almost three and a half years between the passing of the Act and the commencement of those parts. The commencement of the Act is the responsibility of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. In a press release on 6 July, the Department of Health stated that commencement would take place in the autumn. I ask the Leader to clarify whether commencement is imminent and, if it is not, whether the Department will indicate the reason for the very lengthy delay. This is an important issue which relates to the assisted human reproduction that takes place openly in other countries and in private in this country, adoption tracing bills that will be coming before the Houses and, of course, the remains of bodies at mother and baby homes, which is a different but connected issue. Parts 2 and 3 of the Act have not been commenced some three and a half years after the Act was passed. Anonymity regarding egg, sperm and embryo donation should be prohibited in Ireland. This is a very serious matter. I ask the Leader to provide clarification on the status of the commencement of Parts 2 and 3.I am aware that the Minister is busy but perhaps he could come to the House and let me know.