Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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352. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on a matter (details supplied) regarding children's legal rights; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48272/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The General Scheme of the Children and Family Relationships Bill establishes how parentage of a donor-conceived child will be assigned. Where the fertility treatment leading to pregnancy was carried out in a clinical setting, parentage will be assigned in accordance with clear rules and subject to the informed consent of the couple undertaking treatment and of the donor.

The reason that the General Scheme requires the fertility treatment to be carried out in a clinical setting is because there is very clear case-law on the situation of a donor father where the treatment takes place outside a clinical setting. In such a case, notwithstanding the intentions of the parties, the donor has all of the rights and obligations of a father in relation to the child. These rights cannot be reassigned by the parties.

The General Scheme includes a number of provisions to address the situation of children born through donor-assisted reproduction in a non-clinical setting. Depending on the circumstances, the non-biological parent can apply for guardianship, thus obtaining the right jointly with the child's birth mother to make decisions on behalf of a child, ranging from the day-to-day care of the child, to key decisions on the child's education and health-care. Alternatively, the couple can jointly adopt the child, thus securing the child's right to be treated as the child of both of them, and severing the legal relationship with the child's biological father.