Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the statements on guillotining and cutting off debates. It seems to happen every year as if we did not know the summer recess was going to come and we suddenly have to hurtle through business.

Today at 12 noon outside the gates of Leinster House, Equality for Children and a number of other organisations including the National Infertility Support Information Network, LGBT Ireland, and the Independent Living Movement Ireland are calling on us to stand with their families. Currently, in Ireland, thousands of children are being denied the right to have their families legally recognised. I am sure many of us will be in the Chamber at that time but if anyone is not, those groups will be outside the gates.

The majority of LGBTQI+ couples and approximately one in six Irish heterosexual couples require assisted human reproduction, AHR, treatment to be able to conceive a child. However, most children born through this treatment are left in an uncertain legal position without any functioning legal framework to establish a legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents. This has many practical impacts for the children of these families in areas such as birth registration, citizenship provisions, childcare, education provision, access to social welfare, succession and inheritance rights among other things. The Government has published a report on children's rights and best interests in the context of AHR. It was written by the Special Rapporteur for Child Protection, Professor Conor O'Mahony, who recently said he will not seek another term. I acknowledge the work he has done on this. If adopted, the recommendations contained in this report would address numerous legislative gaps that prevent children conceived through AHR from having a legal parent-child relationship with both the parents who love and care for them on a daily basis. The groups outside the gates are calling on the Government and the Minister for Health to immediately adopt and implement these recommendations.

The report provides clear, practical solutions that uphold the rights and best interests of children, including their right to family life, identity and non-discrimination. It recognises the reality of AHR treatment. It also addresses the need to take into account the circumstances of individual children, including those who have been born, in order that they can establish a legal parental relationship to the parents who love and care for them daily. It highlights the need to provide comprehensive legislation in a wide range of areas, including addressing the gaps left in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 and the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022.

The report acknowledges the distress caused to children born through AHR and their families due to the absence of appropriate legislation. Children have been left in a vulnerable legal position for lengthy periods due to the failure of the Oireachtas to legislate and address their status. Significantly, the report recognises the uneven impact this has had on children conceived outside clinical settings and born to LGBT parents who cannot rely on the presumption of paternity and maternity as opposite-sex couples can. This goes against a significant pillar of our campaign for and belief in equality for children. I draw Senators' attention to the protest outside Leinster House today and request that we get a move on that legislation.