Mr. Tom Walsh:

I thank the Chairman for giving us time to speak. Our group is made up of adoptive parents, people who are adopted and people who have put children up for adoption. Each of us here today represents one of the corners of that triangle.

At times the members of the group have different views but I am totally at one with Ms Slattery's view that it cannot be left open to interpretation by a person on the ground. It must be stated very clearly what is acceptable and what unacceptable. No one has the right to deny to anybody else a knowledge of their identity and I look at the requirements for a compelling reason with a very jaundiced eye. If this aspect must be operated, however, it must be copperfastened and not left open to interpretation.

We welcome the proposals in the Bill because, a bit like the position Michael Collins had on the treaty, it is a stepping stone. For a long time adoption and adopted people were treated as second class citizens and an adopted person started from a minus position, while this was not the case for a non-adopted colleague. That is not on but we welcome the fact that the Government recognises the difficulties attached to adoption, whether an adoption is legal or illegal. There are some 44,000 registered adoptions in the country but I have strong suspicion, based on my experience, that there is almost the same number of illegal adoptions, though the number is guesswork.

Our group will insist that the bureaucracy called for in this Bill is actually supplied in the course of its implementation, not just talked about. There is talk of moneys being made available but the moneys must be made available and a full and efficient back-up for the bureaucracy must be in place, whether in the form of office workers, social workers or whatever else. The current situation is ludicrous, though I am not criticising social workers when I say this because they are totally overworked in this arena. When an adopted person begins an inquiry he or she could have to wait three years even for the first step. That is nonsense, so funding must be provided and it must be proper funding, not such that something will be made available if something falls off a truck going out of the gate.