Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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279. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the legislative changes between the Children and Family Relationship Bill 2013 and the Children and Family Relationship Bill 2014; the rationale for these changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37811/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I assume that the Deputy is referring to the policy changes that were made to the General Scheme of the Children and Family Relationships Bill, published for consultation on 30 January 2014. As the Deputy is aware, the revised General Scheme was published on 25 September 2014, following Government approval for it to be drafted as a Bill.

In brief, the changes were made in response to recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to which the General Scheme was referred for pre-legislative scrutiny; recommendations of the Ombudsman for Children to whom the General Scheme was referred for observations; legal advice from the Attorney General and the views of relevant Government Departments.

One of the most important changes has been the inclusion of a new Part designed to safeguard the right of a donor-conceived child to know his or her identity. This change was strongly advocated by the Joint Oireachtas Committee and by the Ombudsman for Children. In addition, the General Scheme has expanded the categories of couples who may be eligible to adopt jointly. Cohabiting couples who have cohabited for three years will now be eligible to adopt jointly on the same basis as married couples. The provisions on guardianship have been also been refined.

The modified cohabitation criteria will make it easier for an unmarried father automatically to become a guardian of his child. Equally, conscious of the need to safeguard the rights of parents who are guardians, the provisions for guardianship by those other than parents have been limited largely to decisions on day-to-day matters. Finally, provisions relating to surrogacy have been removed, pending further policy analysis and the decision of the Supreme Court in a landmark case.