Legislation on international surrogacy will be enacted by next year, having been approved by Cabinet today.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that the bill will "set out a process for future surrogacy both here In Ireland and internationally" and critically provide a pathway for retrospective parenthood.
"It is so important for these children and these parents that have been advocating for this and looking for this for a very long time," Minister Donnelly said ahead of its approval.
"I want this through as early as possible next year and I want to commence it so we can get on with providing all of those wonderful children and their parents the protections and full recognition of parenthood."
He said there are hundreds of children in Ireland and their parents "who currently can't enjoy the full rights and protections" of the parent-child relationship.
Mr Donnelly said he will be referring the bill to the Oireachtas Committee on Health, which he added will take time as it is complex legislation.
He said the legislation will give hundreds of Irish families a route to recognition by the State of surrogacy arrangements undertaken in other jurisdictions.
The Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, which passed the second stage in the Dáil last year, was paused to allow changes around the regulation of international surrogacy agreements.
Having now been approved by Cabinet, the amendments will be referred to the Oireachtas Committee on Health for committee stage and the process is likely to begin in January.
The changes will aim to protect the safety and rights of the child but also all various parties involved in a surrogacy arrangement.
Under the legislation, Ireland would become the first State to have such a bespoke legislative solution to the issues arising from international surrogacy.
It would mean that prospective international surrogacy arrangements would be pre-approved by the new authority/regulator and that a post-birth Circuit Court process would grant a parental order.
For retrospective surrogacies, the High Court may grant a parental order on the basis of a number of criteria being met, including a determination by the court that it is in the best interests of the child.
The advocacy group, Irish Families Through Surrogacy (IFTS) said it welcomed today's news and will engage with the Oireachtas Committee on Health early next year "to ensure that the legislation is enacted without delay".
The group's chairperson Ciara Merrigan said: "As another Christmas approaches, many parents are reminded that another milestone will pass and we are still legal strangers to our children due to the current lack of surrogacy legislation in Ireland."
Ms Merrigan added that she hopes that this Christmas "is the last where our children will be unequal to other Irish children, simply because of the way in which they were born".
Fine Gael Senator and surrogacy campaigner Mary Seery Kearney also welcomed the move and said it would give "much needed certainty and legal protection to intended parents and children".
Other Cabinet business
Meanwhile, Minister for Education Norma Foley will bring a memo to the Cabinet on a new strategy to promote lifelong career guidance.
She will tell the Government that changing patterns of work, in an ever more globalised economy and digitalised world, demand that people upskill and learn throughout life for different careers and jobs.
Separately, Minister for Housing Darragh O'Brien will ask the Government to note that the Local Infrastructure Housing Activation Fund has 12 ongoing projects.
He will seek approval to continue the scheme to the end of 2025 in order to complete this work.
The fund will be increased by €80 million on its original funding to finish projects such as access roads to speed up the building of more homes.
With additional reporting by Karen Creed
