Mary Lou McDonald
Question:430. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason his Department continues to refer to illegal adoptions as illegal birth registrations. [15817/15]
View answerTuesday, 21 April 2015
Questions (430)
Written answers
The term "illegal registration" refers to a case where the birth of a child was registered to persons other than the child's birth mother and/or father.
The Adoption Act 1952 provided a legal basis for adoption in Ireland and for the establishment of the Adoption Board. This brought order to what had been the system of ad-hoc arrangements in lieu of formal adoption procedures up to this point. Legal adoptions are effected in compliance with the provisions of this Act and the Adoption Act 2010. However, if an "adoption" was effected in breach of these Acts, the Department would consider that such arrangements would be an "illegal adoption".