Mr. Fred McBride:

I thank the Chairman. On behalf of the Child and Family Agency, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the heads of the proposed adoption (information and tracing) Bill. I am joined by my colleagues, Cormac Quinlan, interim director policy and strategy, and Siobhan Mugan, national manager of the adoption service.

We wish to address the following areas: progress on the development of the adoption service within Tusla since its establishment in January 2014, with particular emphasis on the information and tracing services; the current level of service activity in Tusla; and the key provisions of the proposed Bill that affect Tusla and some key issues and concerns that we have shared with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs in respect of the Bill. I will start with the progress on the development of adoption services within the agency. Since its establishment in January 2014, Tusla has sought to bring local adoption services under the management of one national service. The aim is to develop a more consistent and streamlined approach to adoption assessments and our information and tracing services. In September 2014 the interim national manager took over line management responsibilities for the majority of the adoption service staff. The full transfer will be completed by the end of 2015.

Since the transfer to a national service, the focus has been on enhancing the information and tracing service. I will now outline progress in this regard A programme of work was introduced to standardise the business process for the information and tracing services which commenced in 2015 and will be completed by the end of 2015. This will ensure equity of service provision across the country. We will have greater access to search engines and electronic databases which have been facilitated to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the information being sourced. Plans are under way to store all historical records - currently at a number of locations - at one centralised safe and secure unit. This will maximise the use of administrative staff to search historical records while allowing social workers to focus the majority of their time on information and tracing requests and support. Tusla currently has custody of over 70,000 historical records. An improvement plan was introduced to address the significant waiting list. As a result, the waiting list and waiting times are being reduced. A new system of prioritisation has been introduced. This ensures that the assessment focuses on those in greater need such as applicants over 70 years or those with serious medical conditions. A new set of metrics has also been introduced to provide managers with more accurate data in order to inform service developments and the effective and efficient use of resources.

I will now give an indication of some of the service activity happening within Tusla. We currently have a complement of just over 62 whole-time equivalents, made up of social work qualified staff, counsellors and nursing staff, with approximately 22 administrative and other support staff. There are other additional services provided though service level agreements with organisations such as Here to Help, Clarecare, Cúnamh and Barnardos. In the context of service provision, in December 2014 there were 1,042 applicants on the waiting list for a service. This was reduced to 867 in quarter 2 of 2015. Also in quarter 2 of 2015, priority 1 waiting time was a maximum of two months. During 2014 there were just short of 2,000 new referrals and at the end of quarter 2 of 2015 there were 521 new referrals.

In terms of key provisions of the Bill that affect Tusla, the agency welcomes the Minister’s proposed legislation on information and tracing services and is committed to improving services to those affected by adoption both now and in the past. To that end, Tusla has joined the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Adoption Authority of Ireland in the establishment of an implementation team. In addition, Tusla has established three separate working groups to look at its preparation and planning for the public awareness campaign, the adoption information register and the custody of records.

I will now outline the key implications and some concerns that we have and have shared with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. I will begin with the public awareness campaign. In conjunction with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, we will develop and implement a robust and high-level public awareness campaign to ensure that we maximise the opportunity to inform all relevant parties of the legislation and its implications for all those affected. This will involve a range of media outlets and also the provision of a confidential helpline for those persons who need to speak with someone about how the legislation might directly affect them and what their rights are. There are some concerns that even with the best public awareness campaign, perhaps elderly birth parents may be difficult to find or access and may not understand or have awareness of the changes proposed in the Bill. Additionally, people may no longer be resident in the country and, therefore, the campaign may not reach them in other jurisdictions. Although Tusla has practised and encouraged open adoption for many years now, which is deemed to be in the best interest of the child, some birth parents may continue to request closed adoption and do not wish to have their identity revealed. As a result of this proposed legislation, Tusla is already informing those involved in current adoptions that the children will have a right to their identity should they wish to request it.

The National Adoption Contact Preference Register, currently held by the Adoption Authority of Ireland, will be discontinued and replaced by a national adoption information register managed by Tusla. This will be one centrally maintained electronic database that will allow the details of parties searching for information to be entered and stored. This will include their preference regarding the sharing of information and whether they wish to initiate a search for birth relatives. It will be a proactive register and, therefore, once a person enters their details, Tusla will begin the process of searching for the other party to elicit their preference for the sharing of information. Any contact or sharing will be facilitated and supported by social workers. The register will allow for all parties, including adopted persons, birth parents and relatives to request information.

In most cases, the person to whom the information relates must consent before the information can be released. Adopted adults will have the right to information to allow them to apply for a birth certificate unless there are compelling grounds to prevent this, and they also will have recourse to the court if the decision to release information is denied. The register will also allow for those persons believed to have been subject to informal adoption or wrongful registration to seek information, where it exists, in respect of those arrangements. Persons who have also been subject to intercountry adoption will also be facilitated in searching for information regarding their birth families.

It is the responsibility of Tusla to take all reasonable steps to locate a birth parent or an adopted person. In addition to the proposed regulations to support this task, Tusla would welcome further discussion with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on the authority Tusla will be given to access records held by other State agencies and what expectations and resources may be provided to locate persons no longer residing in the jurisdiction.

Tracing and locating birth parents or adults can take time. Additionally, asking someone to consider their preference for sharing information in relation to a difficult decision that was made, perhaps decades ago, requires sensitivity and a strong level of trust to be established. This equally takes time and skill and, if not done correctly, can damage the potential of further contact into the future. If the legislation proposes that the identifying information must be shared within 12 weeks of the request being made, this leaves little time for someone who may be ambivalent about their preference and is seeking more time to consider their situation. Tusla is also concerned that there is a maximum of eight weeks for the service to determine and make a decision on compelling grounds for dispensing with consent. This is particularly challenging with respect to historical adoptions where there was some level of agreement that the adoption would remain a secret.

The maintenance and storage of all records held by Tusla will become the responsibility of the Adoption Authority of Ireland. In the interim, all records of an historical nature are in the process of being centralised in one location to ensure their effective safekeeping. This is an interim measure until the authority is in a position to receive the records and will make the transfer between the two agencies as smooth as possible. The transfer of records from Tusla to the Adoption Authority of Ireland will be complex as a lot of the tracing work involves cross-referencing material from different sources. Tusla would welcome further discussion with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Adoption Authority of Ireland on how this can be facilitated to ensure access is streamlined and efficient and that requirements under Schedule 5 are considered in respect of Tusla's access to the Registry of Adoption records.

Tusla notes that the rule regarding statutory declaration applies to the adopted person but not to the birth parents. In the interests of fairness and equity any requirement of this nature should apply to all parties concerned. There is some concern that the consequences for breaching this is not set out in the legislation.

Tusla will continue to provide information and tracing services and some additional funding is being made available to enhance the service in order that we can respond in a timely and effective manner. It is our intention to maximise the time that social workers spend supporting people who apply for an information and tracing service and to meet the new timelines required under the legislation. Tusla is also working with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to explore how specialist services will also be required to support children and adults affected by adoption and to support the assessment of compelling reasons for non-disclosure as may be required. Compelling reasons can mean different things to different people. If there is an indication that a threshold is the endangerment to life, then access to specialist assessment service may be required to determine the veracity of this as an objection or as a means of ensuring the person has access to specialist support. Further clarity would be welcomed on the grounds for compelling reasons.

Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, welcomes the proposed legislation and in particular the statutory provision that will facilitate access to adoption information based on the presumption that disclosure will be facilitated in so far as is legally and constitutionally possible. For many years Tusla, formerly in the HSE, has worked with individuals who have sought to access information regarding their identity. Where consent is not indicated or given by birth parents, only information of a non-identifying nature can be provided to an adopted person. Tusla recognises the need for individuals, both adopted persons and birth parents, to be supported in their journey of discovery, which can be both challenging and upsetting but also very rewarding.