Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and his officials for attending. I compliment the Minister, which is not something that I do regularly, on bringing this adoption legislation as far as he has.

It has received cross-party support over the past number of years. We recognise the importance of giving people the fundamental right to information about their identity, as the Minister described it. I also compliment Senators van Turnhout and Power on the work they did bringing forward a similar Bill in the Seanad last year. There is widespread support for this and I compliment the Minister on it. I look forward to engaging with him about it.

Due to circumstances, key stakeholders who were due to appear before the committee last week could not do so. It was nobody's fault but was because of the awful tragedy in Louth. It is important that, after engaging with those key stakeholders and having heard their views and concerns, we might have an opportunity to engage with the Minister again to thrash out the issues those stakeholders might feel are not addressed in the heads of the Bill that have been presented.

I wish to make some observations. The Minister said: "I hope that it will provide everyone affected by adoption with the time and space to reconcile themselves with the often painful experiences of their past, free of the suffocating fear and stigma". It is awful that a negative stigma has been attached to adoption in the past. It was inappropriate. I wonder if the signing of a statutory declaration is really warranted. Certainly from the limited engagement I have had with people who have been affected it is clear that they feel there is no need for it. They do not intend to harangue or stalk their natural parents if there is a clear wish for no contact. Is the declaration necessary? How effective is it? Effectively, it is toothless because there are no sanctions in place. Perhaps the Minister would discuss whether there is a need for it.

I have concerns about the capacity of Tusla, which I raised previously with the Department's officials. Unfortunately, I missed the presentation from Tusla this morning. At present, given the limited information that is available through Tusla, there is a savage backlog of people waiting to get that information and to interact with it. This is a time sensitive issue. People are getting old and they want to find out about their identity. The Minister was able to secure additional funding for Tusla in the 2016 budget but when one considers all of the different sections within Tusla that will be seeking additional resources, can he confirm that the body will be given a ring-fenced budget to ensure it has the necessary capacity to deal with this new legislation in a comprehensive and effective manner?

The other issue is the 12 month lead-in period. Again, given how time sensitive this matter is, could that period be reduced? To compensate for a shorter lead-in period there could be a more intensive and wider campaign to ensure people are aware of the provisions of the Bill and the criteria that will be attached to it.