Dr Fergus Ryan, Lecturer in Law at Maynooth University Department of Law, featured on UTV’s Ireland Live News at 10 on Thursday 12 February and again on Newstalk Breakfast on Tuesday 17 February, discussing the proposed Children and Family Relationships Bill.
Fergus discussed the Bill, which aims to modernise Irish Child Law, particularly in the areas of guardianship, custody, access, adoption, maintenance, and assisted human reproduction. Existing legislation, he noted, copes poorly with the complexity and diversity of modern families. He highlighted, in particular, new proposals to regulate AHR and (on UTV) provisions extending guardianship to more unmarried fathers.
Fergus also discussed separate proposals for a new law on surrogacy that will likely see the introduction of regulation in this ethically and legally complex area. He pointed out that law reform in this context is long overdue and was recommended as far back as 2005.
Fergus also highlighted the benefits of regulation, particularly in ensuring the right of a child to know his or her genetic origins and in stemming unethical practices in the context of commercial surrogacy.
Fergus lectures in Family Law, as part of the Department's LLB, and lectures in Marriage and the Law and in Gender, Sexuality and Law, as part of the Department's LLM (Global Legal Studies) and LLM (International Business Law) programmes.