Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 February 2014
223. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position on the rights of adopted persons to access their birth certificate and adoption files on turning 18 years of age; if access to this information could be made available to the adopted person; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8755/14]
View answerI have highlighted previously the Constitutional and legal barriers to providing access to adoption records, including birth certificates, without the consent of the birth mother. The Adoption (Information and Tracing ) Bill will address this matter but the legislature will be constrained in the nature of any access which can be granted to adoption records by these legal issues. My Department is continuing to work on the Heads of Bill for the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill and I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval to publish the Heads of Bill as soon as possible. It is necessary for me to be open in saying that complex legal and constitutional issues have arisen in the drafting of the Bill. A particular difficulty has arisen in the attempt to reconcile an adopted person’s request for information about his or her identity with the right to privacy of his or her birth parent. My Department is continuing to consult with the Office of the Attorney General on this and on a number of related issues and I intend to submit the Heads of Bill for Government approval as soon as these issues have been addressed.
Once approved by Government, the Heads of Bill will be sent to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children for its detailed consideration. The process of sending the Heads of Bill to that Committee will ensure that the provisions of the proposed legislation will be subject to public scrutiny and it is of course open to that Committee to invite and encourage submissions from all interested parties. In the meantime I am open to any proposals or suggestions in relation to policy on this matter that assists in achieving as much access as possible in a manner that is legally and constitutionally sound.
I have been anxious to see improvements in existing procedures for the tracing of birth parents by people who have been adopted. The Child and Family Agency, which was established on 1st January last, has advised me that, in the first instance, any person seeking information on adoption should contact the Adoption Authority of Ireland or the Child and Family Agency’s Community Services who will assist in directing them to the personnel dealing with their particular records. The existing arrangements for those seeking access to information reflect a transition from complex and historical situations and I am anxious that the Agency implement much more improved and consistent arrangements. 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 so as to facilitate access to records where they exist.
The Adoption Act 2010, requirement 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 Agency. In the case of the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, for example, some 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 in relation to the proper storage of these records that are of great significance.
I have raised the importance of arrangements for the management of these records directly with the Child and Family Agency and I have also 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 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 make contact with each other, exchange information or state their contact preferences. Applicants 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 Contact Preference Register. I believe there is an opportunity in the context of the considerable public attention this area is receiving to promote awareness amongst women whose children were adopted of the importance of registering their consent for contact to be re-established.
