Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2014
244. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the procedure that adopted children have to go through to gain access to their adoption file; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27760/14]
View answer245. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the amount of information an adopted person is entitled to regarding their birth parents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27761/14]
View answer246. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the rights an adopted person has to gain access to the health history of their birth parents; his plans to make changes in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27762/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 244 to 246, inclusive, together.
Any person seeking information on an adoption should contact the Adoption Authority of Ireland or the Child and Family Agency Adoption Services who will assist in directing them to the personnel dealing with their particular records. Information and tracing enquiries are normally dealt with by the organisation that arranged the original adoption placement. If the adoption agency has closed, the Child and Family Agency Adoption Information and Tracing Service, or the agency that now holds the placement records, will deal with the enquiry.
The Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Child and Family Agency and the relevant adoption agency hold records on each individual adoption order granted under the Adoption Act 1952. The records retained vary but may include basic legal documentation in relation to the adoption, such as application forms, birth certificates for children and adoptive parents, marriage certificates, and consent documentation. The agency records may contain additional information but this can vary considerably.
Non identifying information regarding the birth parent will generally be provided to an adopted person. This would include whatever background medical information is on file. However, the medical and social information on record may be very limited and it may be necessary to attempt to contact the birth parents should updated medical information be required. What information can or cannot be deemed to be identifying or non-identifying can only be determined on a case by case basis taking account of the individual circumstances involved.
My Department is continuing work on the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill and I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval to publish the Heads of the Bill as soon as possible. While I am anxious to improve the legal basis for access to adoption records, proposals to Government have to reflect the constraints on the Legislature in providing such access if they are not to fall foul of Constitutional challenge. The Office of the Attorney General has provided comprehensive legal advice to the Department that has assisted in identifying the Constitutional parameters within which the Heads of the Bill have to be drafted.
It is intended to proceed to finalise legislative proposals and I will bring proposals to the Government as soon as possible. Subsequent consideration by the Oireachtas Health and Children Committee will allow the issues to be carefully teased out and the views of different interested parties on these important and sensitive matters to be fully considered.
