Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank both Senators. As I said in my initial remarks, the concerns Senator Keogan very reasonably raised are already covered. It is not the case that there are no safeguards in place and that this would be inserting a safeguard at the last minute. There are, as I am sure she would support, numerous safeguards that would pick up not just on the offence she listed but much more broadly. She stipulated a single offence, which is a heinous crime. Nobody who has committed sexual assault or any sexual crime against a child should be considered an intending parent. There are numerous safeguards in place for exactly that. There is a concern that if we begin stipulating specific ones - heinous ones like the Senator mentioned – an argument could be made that the applicant may be guilty of other things that are not listed but then the courts may not have the discretion. I take the points the Senator raised very seriously. I assure her, anyone who is watching these proceedings and colleagues in the Seanad that there are layers of safeguards in place to pick up on exactly these things. The Senator has gone to some of the most serious and heinous crimes a human being could commit. The regulatory authority and the courts will have discretion on that and much more.

I assure the Senator we have built many safeguards into the legislation. In fact, the entire Bill is framed around protecting, in the first instance, the child and the surrogate, and then the intending parents as well. It is framed around the child. The child comes front and centre in all of this. There are numerous protections in place for the surrogate as well to make sure that domestic and international surrogacy is done in the right way, that there is not coercion involved and there are not some of the concerns, which people have very reasonable raised, involved. I take the Senator’s points very seriously. I assure her there are layers of protections in place that would identify that as well as a great many other considerations.