Research Stream: Lived Experiences
Authors: Prof Aisling McMahon, Professor of Law, Department of Law and Criminology and ALL Institute, Maynooth University. Alanna Kells, PhD Candidate in the Department of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.
Introduction
On the 24th and 25th April 2025, Prof Aisling McMahon and Alanna Kells (PhD Candidate), School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University, hosted a timely multi-disciplinary workshop examining the ‘Regulation of Assisted Human Reproductive Technologies in Ireland: Current, Emerging & Future – Ethical, Legal and Societal Considerations’ in Maynooth University.
Over the course of two days, the workshop brought together 20 leading national and international speakers drawn from a range of academic disciplines and practice, including law, business, health, social sciences, ethics, and clinical practice. The workshop focused on examining the ethical, legal, and societal issues related to the regulation of emerging assisted human reproductive technologies in Ireland and internationally. It focused on two key aspects: first, it examined the recent Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 (which was signed into law in Ireland on 2nd July 2024, and is currently awaiting commencement) and how provisions within this Act will address emerging ethical, legal, and societal issues in the field; Second, and relatedly, papers also examined the ethical, legal and societal issues posed by emerging assisted human reproductive technologies more generally and the implications of such developments for Irish and international regulatory frameworks.
Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024
The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 provides for a tailored legal and regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction in Ireland, including providing for the establishment of a new regulatory body, the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority (AHRRA). The Act is comprised of 13 parts and 7 schedules. It includes provisions related to embryo and gamete (egg or sperm) donation; the storage of gametes, embryos and tissues; posthumous assisted human reproduction; pre-implantation genetic testing, and surrogacy. The Act (once commenced) will operate within various existing national and international legal frameworks, including, amongst others, relevant provisions of the Irish Constitution, European Union law etc. Its interpretation will need to consider the human rights of the various parties involved, including relevant human rights protections under the European Convention on Human Rights. Furthermore, the Irish Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) plays an important role in this context in Ireland, including in the regulation of the safety and quality of tissues and cells for use in human treatment such as in fertility context, and the regulation of relevant establishments involving in the processing, preservation, storage etc of human tissues and cells
We currently await the commencement of the Act. However, in October 2024, the then Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly secured government approval to draft amending legislation to the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024. At that time, it was reported that this amending legislation will include provisions that aim to address and provide greater clarity for Irish residents/citizens undertaking donor-assisted human reproduction (DAHR) procedures abroad, and for Irish citizens living abroad who access DAHR or surrogacy abroad to have their legal parentage recognised in Ireland (where this is not already the case). The amending legislation has not yet been published, however, in February 2025, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill described the drafting of the Amendment Bill, Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill, as ‘well underway’ and that ‘[…] while the drafting process is still ongoing, a defined list of amendments to the AHR Act 2024 cannot be provided.’ She further noted that while a ‘definitive timeline’ for the Bill to be brought to Cabinet could not be given at that stage, she wished 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.’
The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 is an historic development in the regulation of assisted human reproductive technologies in Ireland. The need for a tailored regulatory framework in Ireland for assisted human reproduction has been called for in Ireland for many years. The adoption of the Act comes almost two decades after the publication of the Report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction in Ireland (April 2005). Thus, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 is much welcomed in providing clarity in relation to various aspects of the law related to assisted human reproduction in Ireland. Nonetheless, ongoing consideration will be needed around how the Act, once commenced, will be interpreted and apply in various contexts and the extent to which it will address the various (often complex) ethical, legal and societal issues arising in the assisted human reproductive context, particularly given the pace of emerging technologies in the field.
Workshop Key Themes
Given the recent adoption of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, alongside the ongoing developments in the field more generally, this workshop provided a timely opportunity to consider the ethical, legal and societal issues relevant in terms of the Irish context, and also the regulation of emerging technologies in the field. Over the two days the workshop featured presentations by 20 leading national and international experts on assisted human reproduction from a range of disciplines and practice, including law, ethics, embryology, and clinical practice.
Speakers discussed two key aspects of the legal framework governing assisted human reproduction in Ireland. First, they examined the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, considering how this new legislation will interact with existing legal, constitutional, and regulatory frameworks. Speakers also explored how specific provisions of the Act aim to address longstanding ethical, legal, and societal issues in this area, including matters related to surrogacy and the use, storage, and donation of gametes (sperm and eggs) and embryos.
Alongside this, the workshop featured papers examining ethical, legal and societal issues arising around the regulation of emerging assisted reproductive technologies and broader developments in the field including around the regulation of emerging assisted human reproductive technologies. These included consideration of: mitochondrial donation techniques, which are currently permissible in certain limited circumstances in some jurisdictions such as the UK. These techniques involve replacing mitochondria in an egg to prevent the transmission of certain severe mitochondrial disease; It also considered other technologies currently under development, which may be possible in future, such as: gametogenesis, a process by which eggs and sperm are created from human stem cells; and ectogenesis, the development of embryos or fetuses in artificial wombs outside the human body. These types of emerging technologies raise novel questions about the nature of assisted human reproduction, parenthood, and family formation. Discussions at the workshop considered a range of ethical, legal, and societal challenges related to such emerging technologies, how these issues are being considered in other jurisdictions, and the potential future implications for the Irish context, including for the operation of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024, once commenced.
Approximately 30 participants attended over the course of the two-day event, which featured timely multi-disciplinary discussions from leading experts in law, ethics, healthcare, and reproductive science. A full report on the workshop is available here.
Conclusion
In short, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 is a very welcome and long-overdue development, and the commencement of this Act as soon as possible is encouraged. Nonetheless, in terms of its impact, much will likely depend on how the Act is interpreted in practice once commenced. Furthermore, given the rapid pace of scientific developments in the assisted human reproduction field, ongoing multi-disciplinary dialogue is critical to the regulation of this area in Ireland and internationally, in order to pre-empt and engage with the likely ethical, legal and societal issues arising to ensure that legal frameworks are as responsive as possible to future developments in the assisted human reproduction field.
Acknowledgments: The organisers are very grateful to the workshop speakers and participants for attending and participating in this workshop. Speakers and participants were (listed in alphabetical order by surname): Sharon Adedapo, Research Assistant, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Dr Lydia Bracken, Associate Professor in Law, University of Limerick; Dr Aoife Campbell, Merrion Fertility Clinic; Prof Marian Crowley-Henry, School of Business, Maynooth University; Professor Mary Donnelly, University College Cork, Ireland; Jenny Cloherty, Health Products Regulatory Authority; Professor Edward (Ted) Dove, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Fiona Duffy, Solicitor, Patrick F. O’Reilly and Company Solicitors; Anne Hayes, Health Products Regulatory Authority; Lauren Kane, Research Assistant, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Opeyemi Kolawole, Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Alanna Kells, PhD Candidate, Maynooth University; Dr Neil Maddox, Associate Professor, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Dr. Claire McGovern, Assistant Lecturer, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Sinéad Masterson, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Professor Aisling McMahon, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Dr Andrea Mulligan, Associate Professor of Law, Trinity College Dublin; Dr Laura O’Donovan, Lecturer in Law, University of Sheffield; Natasha Richardson, PhD Candidate, School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University; Dr Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, Associate Professor in Biolaw, Durham University, UK; Prof Fergus Ryan, Head of School of Law & Criminology, Maynooth University; Peter Thompson, Chief Executive, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, UK; Dr Brian Tobin, Associate Professor in Law, School of Law, University of Galway; Dr Ilke Turkmendag, Reader in Biomedicine and Society, Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, UK; Dr Lucy van de Wiel, King’s College London; Prof Mary Wingfield, MD FRCOG, Former Consultant National Maternity Hospital and Clinical Director of Merrion Fertility Clinic, Associate Clinical Professor, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University College Dublin.
The organisers are very grateful to the Assisted Living and Learning (ALL Institute) and School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University for their support in the organisation and funding for this event
You can read the workshop report at the following link