Denis Naughten
Question:533. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health when legislation dealing with international surrogacy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61662/22]
View answerTuesday, 13 December 2022
Questions (533)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 (AHR Bill) passed Second Stage in the Dáil on March 23 2022 and has been referred to the Select Committee on Health for Committee Stage.
The focus of the AHR Bill is on the regulation, for the first time in this country, of a wide range of practices undertaken in this jurisdiction exclusively, and particularly those carried out by the private fertility clinics operating here. The published Bill does not contain provisions to regulate surrogacy arrangements undertaken in other jurisdictions.
Following the publication of the Final Report of the Special Oireachtas Joint Committee on International Surrogacy, an Inter-Departmental Group was established to review the Report’s recommendations, along with other relevant matters, with the aim of determining an agreed policy position and suitable next steps, in the form of a unified Policy Paper and an outline of appropriate legislative proposals.
The work of the Group is at an advanced stage and it is envisaged that before Christmas Minister Humphreys, Minister O’Gorman and myself will be in a position to submit policy and draft outline legislative proposals for the consideration of Cabinet in respect of both the regulation of international surrogacy and the recognition of past surrogacy arrangements (domestic and international).
It is to be noted that if such policy and legislative proposals are approved by Government they will be required to be formally drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Given the magnitude of the constitutional and legal issues which are likely to arise from such proposals, significant input from the Office of the Attorney General will also be required.
It is of the utmost importance to note that the proposed legislative provisions need to be robust and constitutional which can only be ensured by rigorous analysis by the Office of the Attorney General. Once drafted and approved by Government, the intention is to insert new legislative provisions in respect of international surrogacy and past surrogacy arrangements into the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 at Committee Stage.
I cannot provide a definitive timeline as to when the legislative provisions dealing with international surrogacy will be published. Nevertheless, I can assure the Deputy that I wish to progress this much-needed and long-awaited piece of historic legislation as quickly as possible to ensure both that the goal of providing for a route to formal recognition by the State of past surrogacy arrangements or surrogacy arrangements in other jurisdictions is achieved and that a robust regulatory framework for AHR more broadly is put in place.