Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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725. To ask the Minister for Health when the legislation on surrogate parenthood will be amended to give improved rights to parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50406/21]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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845. To ask the Minister for Health when the assisted human reproduction Bill will be published; the steps being taken to create legislative framework to govern surrogacy in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51070/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 725 and 845 together.

Drafting of a bill on assisted human reproduction (AHR) and associated areas of research is ongoing by Department of Health officials, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. This legislation encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in this jurisdiction, including domestic altruistic surrogacy.

The surrogacy provisions of the Bill outline the specific conditions under which surrogacy in Ireland will be permitted, including a requirement for all surrogacy agreements to be pre-authorised by the new AHR Regulatory Authority. The legislation also sets out a court-based mechanism through which the parentage of a child born through surrogacy may be transferred from the surrogate to the intending parent(s).

Publication of the AHR Bill is a priority for the Department and the Government, and a commitment to enact this legislation is included in the Programme for Government, “Our Shared Future”. This Department and the Office of the Attorney General will continue to engage intensively over the next few months to finalise this complex legislation.