There has been a call for a ‘pause’ on surrogacy legislation that is due before the Seanad this week after having already passed the Dail.

Reflecting on the election results, Independent Senator, Ronan Mullen, said the Government’s relative success should not lull it into thinking they can “keep doing what it does”.

In particular, he said divisive legislation around surrogacy, “did not get anything like challenging scrutiny in the Dáil, so it is important that we take our time with it”.

“We need to ensure that the legislation is not rushed through the Houses in the closing weeks of this term”.

“The rights of women, particularly poorer ones, in other countries are very much in play in this issue and they must be spoken up for”, he said.

In a follow-up on social media, Senator Mullen said the Government’s Bill “enables the denial of natural motherhood, the exploitation of financially vulnerable women and the commodification of children”.

He added that surrogacy is massively abusive of human rights and is rightly banned in most European countries.

He then asked his supporters to contact politicians, “and demand a pause on this legislation so that its full implications can be considered by the public”.