Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There are a lot of people who do not have Senator Seery Kearney's advocacy skills and who are not elected representatives or powerful people. Those people wish to express their concern and some of them have been personally hurt by all of this. If there are people on the Internet who say ugly things then shame on them. If there are people on the Internet who say Senator Seery Kearney should not have a voice, then shame on them. However, I say shame on anyone who says that people who come forward and speak about this issue from the perspective of their pain are somehow patsies as Senator Seery Kearney has suggested, although she did not use that word. We are invited to understand that the people who have engaged in surrogacy and are happy with it need to be heard and that their feelings are very important. I agree with that; their feelings are very important. However, we are invited to think there is somehow less validity to the experience of those who have been hurt by surrogacy. I wonder about the logical basis for that idea which has come from Senator Seery Kearney today. I am sorry she thinks my argument is twisted.