Request for a preliminary ruling — Equality Tribunal (Ireland) — Interpretation of Articles 4 and 14 of Directive 2006/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 July 2006 on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation (OJ 2006 L 204, p. 23) — Interpretation of Articles 3(1) and 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ 2000 L 303, p. 16) — Biological mother having recourse to surrogacy — Person suffering from a physical disability which prevents her from giving birth — Right to maternity ...[+++] leave.

21. Emphasises that women and children are subject to the same forms of exploitation and both can be regarded as commodities on the international reproductive market, and that these new reproductive arrangements, such as surrogacy, augment the trafficking of women and children and illegal adoption across national boarders;

20. Asks Member States to acknowledge the serious problem of surrogacy which constitutes an exploitation of the female body and her reproductive organs;

I would like to draw attention to the urgent need to protect women, and especially poor women, from so-called surrogate motherhood.

Access to those services can be an alternative to or a part of the maternity allowance.

Turning now to surrogacy, we welcome the continued prohibition in the Bill of commercial surrogacy (1200) It recognizes that these arrangements contribute to the exploitation of women, especially those who are poor, to the objectification of children and the commodification of the process of reproduction from beginning to end.