Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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340. To ask the Minister for Health the intended commencement date for the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6895/25]

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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341. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the supplementary Bill to the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 (details supplied); if this will be included on the Spring priority legislative programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6896/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 341 and 340 together.

As the Deputy is aware, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 was signed into law by the President on July 2nd 2024, having passed all stages in both Houses of the Oireachtas.

The primary purpose of this complex and far-reaching legislation is to regulate fertility clinics providing treatment such as IVF (in-vitro fertilisation), ICSI (intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) and IUI (intrauterine insemination) and ensure that assisted human reproduction (AHR) practices and related areas of research are conducted in a more consistent and standardised way and with the necessary oversight. Therefore, the AHR Act 2024 encompasses the regulation for the first time of a wide range of practices undertaken in Ireland, including: the use and donation of gametes and embryos for AHR and research; pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) of embryos; posthumous assisted human reproduction; and embryo and stem cell research.

The AHR Bill as initially published also included provisions in respect of domestic altruistic surrogacy. However, the final AHR Act 2024 also includes substantive new provisions in respect of the regulation of future surrogacy arrangements undertaken by Irish residents in other jurisdictions and the recognition of parentage arising from certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.

While the AHR Act 2024 was progressing through the Houses of Oireachtas, issues were identified which required further consideration and consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. Formal drafting of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill – which is largely concerned with outstanding issues of parentage and citizenship, and is on the priority list for the spring legislative programme – is well underway, led by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, in conjunction with officials in my Department, and those of my colleagues, Minister Jim O'Callaghan and Minister Norma Foley.

The Deputy will appreciate that at this point I cannot give a definitive timeline for commencement of the AHR legislation; however, I can assure him that I wish to progress this much-needed legislation as soon as practicable fundamentally so that a robust regulatory framework for AHR in this country is put in place.