Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 22 February 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Social Protection

Public Services Card: Discussion (Resumed)

10:30 am

Photo of John BradyJohn Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Like anyone else, adopted people appear with the information and documents that they have been told are required. They bring in a short version of their birth certificate. They are told at that point that this document is not acceptable, and that they need to get the long version of their birth certificate. As I stated in my opening remarks, 40% of adopted people do not know they are adopted. They must then try to find that other information and get the long versions of their birth certificate. Why is the short version of the document not accepted in those situations? This system puts them in very difficult situations. There have been very high-profile cases where people felt like second-class citizens within their own State because of their adopted status.

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