Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1703. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the legal status of children arising from embryos stored in facilities abroad which were created in a clinic in advance of the commencement of the Child and Family Relationships Act 2015; and if the parents of the embryos will be able to apply for parentage of these children. [34325/18]
View answerThe Children and Family Relationships (Amendment) Bill 2018 passed the Houses of the Oireachtas on 17 July 2018. This Bill was introduced to correct typographical and technical errors in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, which will facilitate the subsequent commencement of Parts 2 and 3 of the Act. It is intended that Parts 2 and 3 of the Act will be commenced in the autumn of 2018.
After commencement of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 the provisions of the Act are confined to procedures carried out in the State and where the child is born in the State.
The transition period relating to the use of embryos created prior to the commencement of Parts 2 and 3 of the Act are provided for in sub-section 26 (6) and sub-section 26 (8) of the Act. Sub-section 26 (8) allows for the use of an embryo in a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure that was formed before the date on which Part 3 of the Act was commenced, subject to certain conditions. Provided the embryo was formed for the purpose of a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure, the donor of the gamete used in the formation of the embryo consented to the use of the gamete in a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure and that each person who, at the time of the formation of the embryo, was an intending parent and has consented under section 9 or section 11 of the Act to be the parent of any child born as a result of the procedure as defined in section 5 of the Act. However the transition periods only apply to a donor-assisted human reproduction procedure where the procedure is carried out in the State and the child is born in the State.
