Children and Family Relationships Act commencement
Deputy Mitchell raised the uncommenced provisions on donor-assisted reproduction and the difficulties families face with certificates and passport registration. The Taoiseach said he was not familiar with the sections and would ask the Minister to correspond.
It has been two and a half years since the Children and Family Relationships Act was signed into law. This historic Act truly embraced the notion that families are diverse and should be treated equally. Parts 2 and 3 of the Act provide for parentage through donor-assisted human reproduction and have yet to be commenced by the Minister.
Numerous families are running into difficulty regarding birth certificates and passport registration. It leaves parents vulnerable when it comes to kinship rights and emergency decision powers. The Minister has gone on record to state that it is intended the sections in question will be commenced later this year. Could the Taoiseach confirm that this is still the case? If not, when will the sections be commenced?
