Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I also welcome the introduction of the Bill. It provides a good opportunity for us to discuss and speak about this and related issues. It has taken too long for some families and it is important we get it working as soon as possible. Sinn Féin will support the Bill. It provides a much-needed regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction treatments and related research, which we have sought for a number of years. Importantly, it provides for domestic altruistic surrogacy arrangements which will help many families in the State avail of surrogacy where they require it without needing to travel abroad or engage in complex non-standardised agreements.

One of the most important aspects of the Bill is the establishment of the regulatory authority. We believe it is the right approach. The authority will regulate and provide information on the range of AHR treatments and services open to patients across the health sector. Its principal function is to ensure the health and well-being of children born as a result of AHR treatment, persons undergoing treatment and intending parents. It must be an holistic approach and the fact that an authority is to be established signals that intent. It is welcome that there will be such an authority to safeguard rights that can provide information to prospective patients. It must be established as quickly as possible, with its board and CEO being appointed as soon as possible, allowing for other appointments to take place in due course. Staffing and resourcing of the authority is a key concern. I note the Minister's comments on that today.

I also raise the public provision of services. We need to make sure that opportunities for AHR treatment are available to those who may not be able to afford it. The Minister will be aware, that families who need access to fertility treatment such as IVF and other services to aid them to have children must access it privately. It costs a lot of money. It can cost €10,000, €20,000 or €30,000. Sometimes families go through two or three rounds of treatment before they are successful. Many cannot afford to do so and that is wrong. While there is a huge cost to it, we must look at expanding it as a public service.While the Bill and the regulatory authority will bring some cohesion to the sector and ensure higher quality services, most certainly, many families will simply not be able to afford the cost. Once the Bill is enacted, I ask the Minister and Government to make his an absolute priority to develop the public services available to families who cannot meet the cost of going private.

We also need strong protections to ensure adequate oversight of this fast moving area of medicine. We must ensure adequate protection for the thousands of people who wish to have children safely through AHR. We must clarify the legal position of children born using AHR. We must also ensure that research on new reproductive technologies is carried out within a prescribed ethical context. Ireland and Lithuania remain the only EU countries not to offer State funding for assisted reproduction, even though the World Health Organization has recognised infertility as a medical condition.

I have had the pleasure of meeting campaigners over the years. We have all heard from mothers, who two or three years down the line, are not considered their child's legal guardian while fathers, just because of the biological nature of their relationship with the child, are immediately deemed to the child's legal guardian in the eyes of the law. This needs to change immediately. The Government has to listen to families about their concerns and experiences, and the Government must deliver the changes that are needed. Currently, the mother or second parent is not entitled to those rights and must settle for guardianship, which expires when their surrogate child reaches the age of 18. This legal limbo means, for example, that until the mother of a surrogate child is granted guardianship rights, she cannot give consent for her child, for example, to go on a school trip, open a bank account or even apply for his or her first passport. Once the child reaches 18, he or she will also not have a legal standing when it comes to making important health decisions about their parents. If the mother or second parent passes away. this child would have the same legal right to their parents' estate as a complete stranger. These are the issues that this legislation should resolve. We need a regulatory framework that upholds the rights of children born through surrogacy as well. We need to ensure it prevents children born through surrogacy being left in legal limbo or being stateless.

I acknowledge the work done by the Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, the work that my colleague, Deputy Kathleen Funchion, has done in this area and my colleague Senator Mary Seery Kearney. During the height of Covid, this House held its meetings in the Dáil Chamber. I recall that one of the first conversations we ever had was me thanking the Senator for her first speech on this issue and I recall that my first conversation with her was about this issue. I say well done to the Senator on all the work she has done on this area. I also say well done to the Minister and the Government on the work that they have done.