The Government has rejected a UN recommendation that surrogacy be abolished and is instead determined to implement legislation to widely facilitate the practice.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, Reem Alsalem, described surrogacy as a “system of violence, exploitation and abuse against women”, and called for its global abolition.

On Tuesday, Independent TD, Carol Nolan TD, questioned Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill about the intervention.

The Minister replied that the report highlighted “some legitimate concerns”, but she disagreed with its central recommendation that all forms of surrogacy should be prohibited.

Rather, she said, the Government will stick to the approach that “it is preferable to seek to regulate surrogacy rather than enforce a blanket ban”. Almost all European countries ban commercial surrogacy and some ban all surrogacy. Ireland will facilitate people who enter into commercial surrogacy arrangements overseas.

“The aim is to provide for surrogacy which is ethical, altruistic and, most importantly, protects the health, safety and welfare of the two most vulnerable parties: the surrogate mother and the children born as a result of surrogacy”.

She further claimed that policy has “wide, if not near-unanimous, agreement across political parties and groupings in the Oireachtas”.