On the 6th of October the Department of Health published their policy document on the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill. The policy document includes a description of the areas covered by the Bill together with the policy rationale for those provisions. The text of the Bill needs to be agreed with the Office of the Attorney General and approved by Government prior to the Bill being published.
On the 8th of October the Joint Committee on Health published their report on pre-legislative scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment ) Bill. The Health Committee's report is based on the policy paper referred to above and a series of written questions answered by the Department. The Health Committee report includes 18 recommendations.
The four areas covered by the Bill as described in the policy document are as follows:
The intending parents will be required to apply to the AHRRA (Authority established under the 2024 Act) for pre-conception approval prior to the DAHR procedure being undertaken in a facility abroad and the following six requirements must be met:
- The procedure takes place in a jurisdiction with at least the same safety standards as those followed in Ireland and as set out in the EU Tissues and Cell Directive.
- The person performing the procedure is licensed under the law of that jurisdiction to do so.
- The DAHR facility has provided an undertaking that it will, among other matters, ensure that all proper consents are in place and that all information regarding the procedure will be provided to the AHRRA for inclusion on the National Donor Conceived Person Register.
- The intending parents undergo counselling prior to the procedure.
- A safety of the child assessment is conducted by the AHRRA.
- The residency requirements for intending parents in Ireland as set out in the Bill are met.
The amendments to the 2024 Act include some judicial discretion under limited circumstances in retrospective surrogacy parental order applications, to dispense with the consent of the surrogate and the other intending parent and to waive the surrogate residency requirements where the Court is satisfied that the surrogacy arrangement concerned did not involve any human trafficking element.
(a) The Children and Family Relationship Act 2015 (as amended) is to be further amended to provide for the circumstances where a donor-conceived child is born abroad following a DAHR procedure undertaken in a DAHR facility in Ireland. (b) The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 (as amended) is to be further amended to provide that any child in respect of whom an Irish citizen parent is declared to be a parent under the provisions in the supplementary Bill, the child will be an Irish citizen from the date of the Court Order.
Please reach out if you have any questions: Aileen Gittens and Annette Hickey.
