Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. We normally get handed folders for these replies, but it is a pleasure to acknowledge the Senator's extraordinary work on this issue, her leadership and her courage over a long, long time. She has nearly given the response. I will go through it, but I will absolutely convey back the urgency of this and the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, gets the urgency.

The Senator knows this, but I can confirm the formal drafting process of the new surrogacy provisions by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, OPC, in conjunction with three relevant Departments is now nearing completion. As she referenced, drafting of the Bill had to be paused due to a diversion of personnel to work on highly-prioritised, non-Department of Health legislation. The Minister has asked me to assure the Senator he is prioritising this work. Department officials are engaging intensely with all relevant Departments and other relevant parties, including the Office of the Attorney General, on a daily basis. The Minister has had direct engagement with the Attorney General on this in recent days.

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 other proposed amendments to the 11 Parts and 134 pages of the published Bill. These new provisions will need to be approved by Government following the completion of formal drafting by the OPC. The Minister hopes to seek approval for the amendments shortly.

The Senator will appreciate that there is no international consensus on, or any agreed legal instrument addressing the issue of, international surrogacy. She will be aware the Hague working group on private international law matters related to legal parentage generally, including legal parentage resulting from international surrogacy arrangements, is only holding its first meeting this week. It is the understanding of the Minister there are still concerns and reservations among a number of countries participating in this conference towards the undertaking of surrogacy in any form. The absence of a precedent or agreement from an international perspective underlines further why it is imperative we get this complex legislation right, which is something the Senator is absolutely committed to. We also need to ensure alignment with provisions in existing related legislation on the Irish Statute Book.

While it is not possible to provide details prior to agreement by Cabinet, the legislative proposals related to international surrogacy being pursued are closely aligned and consistent with the provisions related to domestic surrogacy outlined in the published assisted human reproduction Bill. Also, the stated position of the three Ministers and the Government has been to seek, insofar as is appropriate and possible, to implement the recommendations of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy. A key feature of this will be the introduction of a pre-approval system for permitted international surrogacy agreements. The three Departments are not aware of any other jurisdiction that has legislated for a similar type of bespoke process to the one we propose be set up here. Finally, it is anticipated the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, together with the Ministers for Justice and Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, will be in a position to bring the updated Bill, taking account of the amendments, to Cabinet in the coming weeks.