Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge how serious an issue this is for families. Obviously, Senator Seery Kearney has been a pioneer on this, has campaigned on this and has done a huge amount of political work on it. It is a matter that needs to be expedited. With that, I begin by thanking the Senator for giving me, on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, the opportunity to inform the House of the up-to-date position in respect of introducing legislative provisions for the regulation of international surrogacy and historic surrogacy arrangements.

As the Senator is aware, the Minister for Health, together with the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Children Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, submitted proposals for the consideration of Cabinet in respect of both the regulation of international surrogacy and the recognition of certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements. This policy direction and draft outline legislative scheme were approved by Government in mid December 2022, and the Minister wrote to the Attorney General before Christmas to request the prioritisation of the formal drafting of these legislative amendments.The drafting process by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, in conjunction with the three Departments, as appropriate, is well under way. I have followed up on it myself. It is being prioritised. I have spoken to officials directly and people are working exclusively on this issue in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the Attorney General's office. I am aware of how important it is for both the Senator and for parents, of which she is one. The intention is to insert the finalised new legislative provisions in respect of international surrogacy and past surrogacy arrangements into the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 on Committee Stage, along with any other proposed amendment to the published Bill. These new provisions will need to be approved by the Government following completion of formal drafting by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. That was agreed in December 2022. The process, therefore, of drafting new provisions in respect of prospective international surrogacy, the recognition of past domestic surrogacy arrangements and the recognition of past international surrogacy arrangements is being undertaken in tandem with the drafting of potentially substantial proposed amendments to the 11 Parts and 134 pages of the published Bill.

On behalf of the three Ministers and the Government, I reiterate their gratitude for the work undertaken by the special Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, of which the Senator was an esteemed member. She made reference to the report that is informing these amendments. The stated position of the three Ministers and the Government is to seek, insofar as appropriate and possible, to implement the recommendations of the committee. However, Senator Seery Kearney will appreciate that it is crucial the final detailed provisions are robust and able to withstand rigorous scrutiny, given the range of complexities involved, the rights of the various parties involved in surrogacy arrangements and the necessity to ensure consistency with any related existing legislation in the Statute Book. I understand the Senator's frustration but I think everyone here wants to get this right. In this regard, it should also be noted that the three Departments are not aware of any other state that has attempted to provide such a bespoke and comprehensive legislative solution to the issues arising from its own citizens engaging in international surrogacy. The Senator has already made reference to that. The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, is aware, and completely understands the reasons Senator Seery Kearney is eager to know when these amendments will be ready for publication. However, at this juncture a definitive timeline as to when Committee Stage of the Bill will be scheduled cannot be provided. I have spoken to the Minister and the official. I have asked for it to be prioritised. Nevertheless, it is anticipated that the three Ministers will be in a position to bring the proposed new three surrogacy Parts of the Bill to Cabinet within the next couple of months. Finally, the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, wants to reassure Senators, particularly Senator Seery Kearney, that he wishes to progress this much-needed and long-awaited historic legislation as quickly as possible. He wants to ensure that both the goal of providing a route to formal recognition by the State of past surrogacy arrangements or surrogacy arrangements in other jurisdictions is achieved and that a robust regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction more broadly is put in place.