Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State to taking this Commencement matter. Last July, we had a fantastic day here when the assisted human reproduction Bill was passed by this House having previously been passed by the Dáil. We had families in this Chamber, along with my own, who celebrated the fact that both parents of children had a way forward in getting the legal recognition they absolutely need and deserve in regard to the parenting and parentage of their children born via surrogacy. We understood at the time that there was going to be a time delay between this coming into law and the commencement of the Act. The regulatory authority needed to be established and there was work to be done by the Department of Justice to ensure the family courts were ready to receive all of the applications. Future surrogacy applicants need the regulatory authority in place. I completely understand that there was always going to be a time lag. Everybody understands that. Like Irish Families Through Surrogacy, I have kept in constant touch with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to ask about the progress on the role of the Department of Justice. In that regard, we are absolutely assured that the courts are ready and that secondary legislation will be ready and in place for statutory instruments for amendments to court rules should they arise for the presentation of cases to the courts. In recent weeks, Irish Families Through Surrogacy has had conversations with the Department of Health that have reassured us that everything is running along perfectly in the Department. At the same time, representations are being made to Irish Families Through Surrogacy to the effect that no commencement date has been cemented into the future and there is no deadline by which the retrospective applications can be made. There is some toing and froing to the effect that this may be a Department of Justice delay or a courts delay. I spoke with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as recently as last night. I also went down to the courts to make inquiries. I know it is in the Department of Justice and it is in the courts. I am anxious to know what exactly is delaying the prediction of a commencement date. We need this to be a priority in any future programme for Government. The policy memo with regard to further amending legislation went to the Cabinet and was approved by it, but within that there are requirements with regard to setting aside consents in instances where biological fathers may weaponise their power over children and may refuse consent to the mother or second father of those children to get their parental orders. That secondary legislation needs to come in and needs to be in place.We are left in a situation where we have no confirmation on when exactly this Bill will be commenced. Meanwhile, there are some families where a biological father has a very serious illness that could result in his death. There are other situations that could arise at any stage. Anyone could be run over by bus tomorrow; we have no means of knowing.

When will we be assured that the children born by surrogacy in this State will have a secure lifelong legal relationship with their second parent? The idea of kicking it to touch and wondering whether a particular individual gets re-elected or not, and turning this into a cloud space where we do not actually know and that this is a floating possibility is not good enough for the parents and families and, most importantly, the rights of children to have that legal relationship with both of their parents and to have that security cemented.

There is no reason we should have to wait for a regulatory authority to be established. In fact, it is a matter of family law and the applications to the court should be able to happen sooner rather than later. Everyone has in their mind the date of 31 March. We could all live with that, but I want a guarantee from the Minister and the Government, before the Taoiseach goes to Phoenix Park, that these families will have certainty very soon in their future.