Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to object and to say that I feel amendment No. 12 is completely wrong. It is gendered and discriminatory. While Senator Mullen was speaking about single men not being allowed to undertake surrogacy, he also mentioned gay men in a partnership or marriage. One of my neighbours in County Kildare is Brian Dowling, who is well known. He and his husband Arthur already have a daughter through domestic surrogacy, through Brian's sister Aoife, and they are expecting another baby. Their family, which exudes love, joy and happiness, has all of the different support measures in place. I honestly do not believe that anybody would go down the surrogacy path if they did not have supports in other ways through friends, family and a support network. I object to what the Senator has said. He has spoken about this being a philosophical argument. Cicero, Socrates, Confucius and Buddhism all talk about the importance of parenthood. They all talk about the importance of family. While there can be a philosophical background or support to either side of the argument, we are talking about practicalities and giving practical supports to those who wish to be parents and wish to give love and support to the children who may hopefully come into their lives. I wanted to make that point and speak against amendment No. 12.