Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for his questions. As he has read out, the regulatory authority will have very broad powers in determining the appropriateness of the applicants for surrogacy.As was absolutely clear through the draft legislation, it is the safety of the child which comes first and foremost. I have been told that there is a misunderstanding circulating on social media, for example, around the amendment Senator Keogan put forward in good faith seeking safeguards and that this has been interpreted incorrectly as suggesting that these powers do not exist. I want everyone to be absolutely clear that the regulatory authority has the powers to cover the eventuality in Senator Keogan's amendment, and has far more powers.

The reason for not agreeing to the Senator's amendment on one specific issue is that there is a wide variety of issues going far beyond that heinous one which is covered in the Senator's amendment. I want to assure anyone watching in who is interested in these proceedings that the eventuality and the protection sought in Senator Keogan's amendment is fully covered in the Bill, and far more is covered. I know the Senator tabled the amendment in good faith because it was one area that she was looking to have included.

To the questions raised by the Senator, the assisted human reproduction regulatory authority, AHRRA, has very sweeping powers and the Minister also has very broad powers in setting the regulations and the requirements needed. AHRRA and the Minister of the day and their Department will be working very closely together to ensure that any of the documentation which is required must be submitted to the satisfaction of the regulatory authority.

To Senator Mullen's question on whether the failure to comply with all requests for information would automatically exclude one, AHRRA has broad powers to implement that if it wishes, if it was a very trivial piece of documentation that was being requested and perhaps if the applicant was not able to avail of it, whatever it may be. If it was a trivial piece of documentation, AHRRA has the authority to proceed with the application. The regulatory authority will be taking its responsibility in the safety of the child and of the surrogate absolutely seriously. As the House will see from this section, it is drafted to put the safety of the child front and centre. If the regulatory authority has any concerns about the suitability of any applicant, it has complete powers to refuse that application, be it on the questions Senator Mullen has put forward on returning requested documentation or, indeed, a broad range of others, whether it is to do with the requested documentation or not. For example, every applicant must go through counselling. If AHRRA was of the view that the counselling and the counsellor had signalled that the person may have no previous offences, the person may have committed no previous crimes or the person would pass various things but if, through the counselling, the regulatory authority is concerned about the suitability, then it can invoke that, and indeed other powers as well.