Select Committee on Social Affairs díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 Oct 1996

SECTION 3.

Question proposed: "That section 3 stand part of the Bill."

Dr. Woods

Section 3 states:

The Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following for section 5:

"5.—The Board, with the consent of the Minister, may make rules—

(a) for the regulation of its procedure or for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed, and

(b) governing the consultation that is required by this Act to be carried out with the father or the person who believes himself to be the father of a child before the child is placed for adoption or before an adoption order is made in respect of the child.".

This gives the Adoption Board the power, with the consent of the Minister, to make rules governing the new procedures for consultation. Will the Minister explain whether these rules should be laid before the House and if there is a provision for so doing?

Mr. Currie

There is no provision for laying them before the House. The Deputy is right in saying that paragraph (b) will empower the board to make rules governing the procedures to be followed by adoption agencies in the operation of the new consultation procedures and that the consent of the Minister for Health will continue to be required for the promulgation of rules made to the Adoption Board. We thought that was sufficient.

Dr. Woods

I suggest, in the spirit of openness and transparency and the fact that many people will be interested in what is going on, it might be useful to consider an amendment on Report Stage to ensure that these rules are laid before the House without any strictures on them. I do not mean that they will have to be voted on by the House or anything of that nature, but they should simply be laid before the House. As I understand it, the Minister has to approve the rules on behalf of the House and so it would be helpful to lay them before the House.

Mr. Currie

The system has been in operation since 1953 and as far as I know it has not created any problems in the past. It may be covered by other legislation but I am prepared to examine it in the interests of openness and agreement.

Dr. Woods

I am asking the Minister to look at this on Report Stage. In the spirit of information being freely and readily available we should be doing that generally where it is feasible.

Mr. Currie

As a dear old friend of the Deputy's and mine used to say: "No problem".

Question put and agreed to.