Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 March 2021
636. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth if the review into incorrect birth registrations commissioned by his Department in May 2018 generated a report; and if so, when such a report will be published. [12630/21]
View answer637. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the details regarding the independent review into incorrect birth registrations; if private nursing homes or persons were included in this review; the nature of the review process; if interviews were conducted; if testimony was audio compiled; and the status of any such testimony of audio files. [12631/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 636 and 637 together.
The review to which the deputy refers was commenced by my predecessor following Tusla’s discovery of evidence of illegal birth registrations in the files of the now defunct St. Patrick’s Guild Adoption Society.
This review was commissioned to investigate whether there is sufficient reliable evidence of that practice in the records of other adoption agencies and similar institutions. The then Minister appointed an Independent Reviewer to oversee a review of a sample of the files held by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and Tusla. Interviews did not form part of the methodology of this review.
The Independent Reviewer worked with the AAI and Tusla to identify a sample of files to review to determine if they contain comparable evidence of illegal birth registrations. Records were selected from: adoption agencies; nursing homes which acted as ‘informal adoption agencies’; and boarding out services, selected geographically to provide national coverage.
The report of the Independent Reviewer ('Sampling Review') was submitted to the then Minister in May 2019. However publication was deferred to avoid encroaching on the work of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters. A copy of the Sampling Review report was provided to the Commission.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Sampling Review report was published yesterday following cabinet approval. A copy of the report is available on my Department's website.
