Adoption Legislation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 February 2014

Wednesday, 12 February 2014

Ceisteanna (7)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Ceist:

7. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding the adoption (information and tracing) Bill; if she will provide a comprehensive account of the provisions of the forthcoming legislation; if she will confirm her welcome and support for the Philomena Project; the way she and her Department intends engaging with same in the lead up to the Bill's publication; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6645/14]

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I ask the Minister to indicate when she expects the adoption (information and tracing) Bill to be published, her position in regard to the Philomena Project and whether ongoing consultation with that body will form part of the preparation of the Bill in advance of its publication.

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

I am conscious of the efforts being made by Philomena Lee to highlight the issues relating to information on and tracing of adoptions and illegal registrations. This is an extremely sensitive matter, especially for birth mothers who may still feel the emotional conflicts associated with adoptions many years ago. I have not yet had the opportunity to meet Philomena Lee. I would welcome a meeting with her, and this has been conveyed to her in a recent meeting with the Irish ambassador in Washington. I have also written to Ms Lee inviting her to meet me at a suitable time.

I am advised that the Adoption Authority has already seen a significant increase in the number of people who are calling it in regard to information and tracing. The Authority has stated that many of these callers have cited Ms Lee as the catalyst for their call. I am grateful to Philomena for the bravery and sensitivity she has shown. She is a remarkable woman who has struggled with great courage and grace on her own behalf and on behalf of all too many single young mothers who faced a cold and brutal response when what they needed was support and understanding. I hope she takes comfort from the success she has had in having her story heard and in encouraging birth mothers to come forward.

I urge birth mothers to enrol in the National Adoption Contact 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. I believe the register is under-used and I appeal to those concerned, whether as the adoptee or the mother who gave up her baby for adoption, to make their names and contact details known to the Adoption Authority so that they are included on the register. This is potentially an important port of call for those affected.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I join the Minister in calling on birth mothers to register. It is also essential that the legislation is published so that adopted persons and parents who are searching for each other have the opportunity to access records. A large number of people have expressed frustration at their inability to progress their inquiries. The adoption (information and tracing) Bill will play an important role in this regard and I am anxious to know, if she can be specific, when she expects it to be published. If she is in a position to do so, I ask her to set out the outstanding issues that remain to be addressed in respect of the Bill. I welcome that she has indicated her willingness to meet Philomena Lee and I hope that an opportunity to meet arises in the near future.

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

I will work proactively with Ms Lee and the Philomena Project, and will give it every assistance I can in terms of making data and records available. I have made such information available to this House in response to a number of parliamentary questions in recent months.

We are still teasing out the complex constitutional issues that arise in regard to adoption tracing. I have previously stated that I want the legislation to go as far as possible within the constitutional limits. I am not in a position to indicate precisely when it will be ready because of the complexity of the work being done by my Department and the Attorney General. Once the heads of the Bill have been agreed by the Government, however, I will ask the Joint Committee on Health and Children to examine them. That will give a public opportunity to all interested groups, including the Adoption Rights Alliance and the Philomena Project, to make observations on the legislation. On the legal side, the examination by the committee will also provide an opportunity to tease out the aforementioned constitutional complexities.

Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I welcome that the heads of the Bill will be referred to the Joint Committee on Health and Children. That is a worthwhile exercise. I do not doubt that my committee colleagues would welcome the opportunity to examine the Bill.

How does the Minister intend to address the 1998 Supreme Court judgment which stated that adopted people have no absolute right to know the identity of their natural parents? It is my view that they certainly do have such a right. Any of us in that situation would want to know the identity of our natural birth parents. Is this a major difficulty in the preparation of the legislation?

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

Clearly the case to which the Deputy referred is central to the discussion, as are the European decisions on the right to identity. They vary. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear on the right to identity but the I. O'T. case and the European court judgments give a more nuanced response. I wish to state for the House the Supreme Court's direction on the criteria that the lower court should taken into account when deciding whether a person had a right to access information.

The court said a range of issues needed to be taken into account, including the circumstances surrounding the natural mother's loss of custody of the child; the current status and circumstances of the natural mother and the potential effect on her of disclosure of her identity; the natural mother's own wishes and attitudes regarding the disclosure and the reasons behind these wishes and the aforementioned attitude; the current age of the natural mother and the child, respectively; the attitude of the child, including the reasons he or she seeks disclosure of his or her natural mother's identity; the present circumstances of the child; and the opinion of the adoptive parents or other interested persons.

A huge weight was given to privacy in that judgment. That is central to the current discussions on the legislation.