Thomas Pringle
Question:3. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to release more than 60,000 files on forced adoptions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6921/14]
View answerWednesday, 12 February 2014
Questions (3)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
It is 60 years since forced adoptions were legalised in this country but more than 60,000 files remain closed. The Philomena Project was launched to campaign for the release of those files. I believe the project should be listened to and its demands acted on and I tabled my question in that context.
The Adoption Act 1952 placed adoption on a regulatory footing in Ireland and, in accordance with the law, all adoptions taking place since were required to comply with that Act and subsequent legislation. The Deputy quoted a figure of 60,000 and used the phrase "forced adoptions", which I will address presently, but I am advised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland that 44,042 adoptions took place in Ireland between 1953 and 2012. Very significant changes in society and in adoption trends have taken place in the intervening period, with just 49 domestic adoptions in 2012 compared with an average of more than 1,000 per annum taking place through the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, in line with the laws of the day. I am also aware that some arrangements put in place in earlier decades were not within the provisions of the adoption legislation, leaving people assuming they were adopted when they in fact were not. There were also births which were the subject of illegal registrations.
I note the recent statement by the Adoption Rights Alliance which suggests "there are over 60,000 'adoption' files held by the HSE, private adoption agencies and church representatives all of which are the sole source of people’s identities". This is not necessarily the same as the proposition put forward in the Deputy’s question which suggests there exist 60,000 files on forced adoptions. I am not quite sure what the Deputy means by "forced adoptions" but I am trying to highlight here the information that is available.
I would point out that where records exist, it is to be expected that many of these relate to the tens of thousands of adoptions conducted in line with the laws of the day. It is worth noting that, while records exist on past adoptions, the nature of these records may vary greatly and many records may not be as detailed or as expansive as current day processes would require.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
The requirement in the Adoption Act 2010 that agencies providing information and tracing services would gain accreditation resulted in a number of religious orders deciding not to apply for accreditation and transferring records from their mother and baby homes and adoption societies to the Child and Family Agency. For example, in the case of the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, 25,000 records have been transferred to the agency’s regional adoption service in Cork. Work by the agency on the organising and storage of these records has taken place. The advice of the National Archives has been sought regarding the proper storage of these records which are of great significance. I would hope this process would lead to much greater clarity on the actual number and nature of adoption records in existence.
I have raised the importance of broader arrangements for the management of records directly with the Child and Family Agency and I have asked my officials to examine the work that could be undertaken with the Child and Family Agency, the Adoption Authority and other stakeholders to improve arrangements for managing and accessing the records that are available. I have been advised by the agency that it is reorganising adoption services in 2014 at a national level and will consider how best to deploy its staff to deal with this important issue to facilitate access to records where they exist.
I have highlighted in the House the constitutional and legal barriers to providing access to adoption records without the consent of the birth mother. The Adoption (Tracing and Information) Bill will address this matter, but the Legislature will be constrained by these legal considerations in the nature of any access which can be granted to adoption records. In this context, I would urge birth mothers to enrol on the National Adoption Contact Preference Register which was established in 2005 to assist adopted people and their natural families to contact each other, exchange information or state their contact preferences. They decide, through a range of information and contact options, how they wish to proceed. The Adoption Authority of Ireland has responsibility for the operation of the register. I believe there is an opportunity, in the context of the considerable public attention this area is receiving, to promote awareness among women whose children were adopted of the importance of registering their consent if contact is to be successfully re-established.
I take on board the Minister's correction of the wording of my question but while adoption may have been legalised in 1952, I personally know of a number of forced adoptions that took place after that time. While they may have been legal, they were still forced in the sense that they took place against the will of the mothers concerned. There is no doubt a lot of the information in the records may not be as complete as they would be now but I still believe that providing access to those records is vital for mothers trying to trace their children and for those who might want to trace their biological parents. The key point is to make the records available and accessible, and whether they are complete is something we will have to deal with. Many of those seeking their records understand they may not provide all the information they need or want. Nevertheless, the key issue is availability and access to enable people to get some completion in their lives.
The requirement in the Adoption Act 2010 that agencies providing information and tracing services would gain accreditation resulted in a number of religious orders deciding not to apply for accreditation and transferring records from their mother and baby homes and adoption societies to the Child and Family Agency. For example, in the case of the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, 25,000 records have been transferred to the agency’s regional adoption service in Cork. This means 25,000 files that were previously held by a private adoption agency are now with the Child and Family Agency. Work has taken place on organising the storage of these files, which is a massive job.
In the legislation I intend to bring forward, I will make it a statutory requirement that all records held by private individuals or agencies are made available to a central authority. That will mean any records we can access will be known about, can be archived and made more accessible.
I thank the Minister for her response. Regarding the archive in Cork, is the Minister satisfied there is an adequate number of staff available to archive the records and to provide access and searching assistance to those who want to trace their families? I have heard reports that only a small number of staff are dealing with the archive and that they are unable to research the files in a timely fashion. I fully appreciate that those files need to be archived. Can the Minister give an assurance that the necessary resources are in place to ensure the files are properly archived and made available?
I have had discussions with the Child and Family Agency regarding the importance of this issue.
Clearly for the individuals concerned it is key that they get access to these records as quickly as possible. Heretofore, there has not been a national approach to adoption services and Gordon Jeyes, the chief executive officer of the agency, has advised me it is reorganising the adoption services in 2014 at a national level. It will consider how best to deploy staff to deal with this important issue in order to facilitate access to the records. Quite a number of social workers have been involved in assessment and while assessments for adoption still are taking place, the inter-country and international situation regarding adoption clearly has changed considerably. Consequently, it should be possible that social workers who previously were involved in assessment should now be able to move to help people more on the tracing side. However, there still is considerable demand for assessments and people are entitled under the law to have an assessment even though very few, relatively speaking, inter-country or national adoptions are taking place. There still is demand for assessments because people obviously are hopeful they may be able to adopt and, as Ireland reaches agreement with different countries, that the number of children available for inter-country adoption will increase. While the level of resources the Government can make available is an issue that must be considered, every effort will be made to respond to individual queries.