Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. He is asking a question that I believe is a rhetorical measure, which is asking what if everything fails. We can ask that about anything. We can ask that about anything in our entire State: what if the courts fail; or the roads authority; or the HSE; or the doctors and nurses; or the police; or the Oireachtas. You can ask that about anything – any law or protections in place in our society about anything. As legislators, we empower the courts, State agencies and State authorities to do a job. We legislate and we regulate. That is how the country works. We can ask that about anything but it is something of a strawman. You can ask about any agency being set up for anything. What we can say is we have a clear law. For anyone listening, section 54, on safety of children starts by stating “The AHRRA [the regulatory authority] shall not approve ... a surrogacy agreement unless it is satisfied” and it goes on. It does not say that it “may decide not to”.The law states the regulatory authority "shall not approve the application unless..." and it goes on.