Mal O'Hara (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

My apologies that I missed the start of the debate. Forgive me if some of the issues I raise have already been flagged. I want to push back a little on the language we have heard already today. I have a concern that those who often champion our position and use the language about the safety of children have an underlying ideological agenda. Senator Seery Kearney has already clearly articulated that point. It is a ruse. It is well established in terms of our evidence around child well-being and safeguarding. We know who the potential threats to children are. They are often intimate family members, particularly men, who can neglect or abuse, disregard or use various forms of exploitation. We need to be clear on where the evidence is about who present risks to children.

In the debate, trying to follow some of the logic, it almost feels as though there is a prescriptive approach to who should or should not be parents. To follow that logic beyond those who are seeking surrogacy support through the State, then we apply that to everybody. Does that become forced reversible sterilisation, for men in particular, until they pass a test that allows them to become parents? I do not think this Republic should be an advocate of Gilead. I would push back against that language and such terminology.

I am a queer person. I am a gay man. I often thought about becoming a parent but I am safely of an age where I am the back up should anything happen to my siblings. I joke with them that there are certain favourite kids I would take and others I would not. I am there as the backup, that is the role. Other LGBT people wish to be parents. I commend the Government on bringing this forward. This is a landmark day. The Bill before us has been more than 20 years in the making. It will be great when we get to the point when it is, hopefully, passed.

As the Minister knows, members of the LGBT community, while grateful for the progress, still have some concerns about the legislation. It makes huge improvements in the recognition of LGBT parents but there is still a bit to go. The Minister has committed to additional legislation. Perhaps we will be able to resolve some of those challenges then.

The particular point that has been raised with me and which I want to flag, if it has not already been flagged, concerns donor-conceived children who are born abroad. It is disappointing that the parents of a child born in Dublin can be jointly recognised but if-----