Status of Children Act, 1987

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Blood tests and reports.

40.—(1) Where blood samples are taken for the purpose of giving effect to a direction of a court under section 38 (1) of this Act, they shall be tested—

(a) under the control of such person (including a person to whom subsection (6) of this section relates) as all the parties to the proceedings before the court agree to, or

(b) where the parties are not in agreement,

(i) under the control of such person to whom subsection (6) of this section relates, or

(ii) under the control of such other person,

as the court shall direct.

(2) The person under whose control blood samples are to be tested by virtue of subsection (1) of this section shall make to the court by which the direction was given a report in which he shall state—

(a) in relation to each person from whom blood samples were so taken, the results of the tests, and

(b) in relation to each person (other than the person whose parentage is in question) from whom blood samples were so taken—

(i) whether the person to whom the report relates is or is not excluded by the results from being a parent of the person whose parentage is in question, and

(ii) if the person to whom the report relates is not so excluded, the value, if any, of the results in determining whether that person is a parent of the person whose parentage is in question,

and the report shall be received by the court as evidence in the proceedings of the matters stated therein.

(3) A report under subsection (2) of this section shall be in the form prescribed by regulations made under section 41 of this Act.

(4) Where a report has been made to a court under subsection (2) of this section, any party may, with the leave of the court, or shall, if the court so directs, obtain from the person who made the report a written statement explaining or supplementing any statement made in the report, and that statement shall be deemed for the purposes of this section (other than subsections (3) and (6)) to form part of the report made to the court.

(5) Where a direction is given under section 38 (1) of this Act in any proceedings and the blood samples to which the direction relateshave been tested by virtue of this section, a party to the proceedings, unless the court otherwise directs, shall not be entitled to call as a witness the person under whose control the blood samples were tested for the purpose of giving effect to that direction, or any person by whom any thing necessary for the purpose of enabling those tests to be carried out was done, unless within 14 days after receiving a copy of the report he serves notice on the other parties to the proceedings, or on such of them as the court may direct, of his intention to call that person as a witness and, where that person is so called, the party who called him shall be entitled to cross-examine him.

(6) (a) The Minister may, for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, appoint a person or category of persons under whose control blood tests may be carried out.

(b) The Minister may at any time amend or revoke an appointment under this subsection but such amendment or revocation shall not affect any blood test carried out, or the testing of any blood sample for the purpose of this Part which was submitted for testing, before such amendment or revocation.

(c) Notice of an appointment, or the amendment or revocation of any appointment, shall be published by the Minister in the Iris Oifigiúil.