Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. McBride and thank him for his presentation. This is legislation for which most people have waited a long time. We agree that every child or adopted person is entitled to their identity. I also believe they are entitled to their health and medical records. A few things occurred to me in the presentation, one of which was compelling reasons, something with which everybody has an issue. I was going to ask Mr. McBride to give an example of a compelling reason but I note that he states further clarity would be welcomed on the grounds for compelling reasons. He also stated that compelling reasons can mean different things to different people. It is a huge issue. We all have difficulty trying to find out what compelling reasons might entail.

Mr. McBride stated that further discussion is required with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Adoption Authority of Ireland in regard to the custody of documents and how this can be facilitated. I welcome the moves to improve communications between the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and Tusla in this regard.

With regard to social workers and the services required, Mr. McBride stated that he is 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. How will this work and how will people be supported? Given that Tusla is already under-resourced with regard to social workers, how will this be overcome? Is Mr. McBride confident he has the budget to deliver on his responsibilities?

In his presentation Mr. McBride mentioned a set of metrics used by management. Perhaps he could elaborate on that and on what he might be focusing.