Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I have met a wide range of groups and individuals in advance of the publication of the heads of the Bill and particularly since they were published. I have met a number of the campaigning groups in this area. I have met the Adoption Rights Alliance, Aitheantas, Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland. Last month, I visited Tuam, where I met four of the groups representing families there. We spoke about this as part of a range of issues. I have also engaged, individually and collectively, with a significant number of people subject to illegal birth registrations. A number of them were included in the "RTÉ Investigates" documentary "Who Am I?" a number of months ago. I met a group of them who worked together. I also met eight or nine individuals who were subject to illegal birth registration. I have consulted widely and these consultations have shaped some of the changes I am proposing today. We continue to listen to these groups. I also met the group of mothers I spoke about earlier. They have addressed the committee or will do so in the near future.

I take the point on communication. Once the Bill is passed there will need to be a significant campaign of communication in the first three months to let adopted people know of their rights under the legislation and to inform parents, particularly mothers, of their right to use the contact preference register to indicate a type of contact preference or a no-contact preference.

In the consultation we did on redress, we engaged with advocacy groups representing survivors outside of Ireland, embassies and Irish diaspora groups. This is one of the ways in which we have communicated. We did a widespread media campaign on the consultation we did on redress. We will look to refine this and roll it out intensively in the three-month period between the passing of the legislation and when people can start to apply to access their information under the legislation.

On the question of resources and a new agency, my focus has been on the delivery and accessibility of all of this information as quickly as possible. My fear about creating a brand new agency is that we know how long it took to establish the HSE and Tusla. It would act as a delay to people accessing their information now. This is not to say something will not happen in the future but this legislation provides access to information within three months of the Bill being passed. A number of Deputies have spoken about the importance of getting information to people as quickly as possible.

The Deputy is absolutely right in terms of the issue of resources. I have spoken in detail to Tusla and the AAI on what additional resources they will require. It will form part of my Estimates bid to the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, this year. The Department is working with these two agencies on how the legislation will be implemented once it is passed. We are not just waiting until the legislation is passed to plan for the step-by-step implementation. We are already working on it in the Department and the two agencies.

With regard to counselling and tying back into what Deputy Murnane O'Connor was saying, the take-up of the national counselling service has not been huge. We note 158 survivors of these institutions have used the national counselling service. There probably is more that can be done in terms of making people aware of it and we will definitely look into it. The provisions of this particular support is in the context of survivors themselves. I take what Deputy Costello has said about the impact on wider family members. People looking to use the information and tracing legislation, whether adopted people, mothers or fathers, will all be able to avail of supports under the legislation when the final draft comes through.