Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to thank our guest speakers here today. I, too, want to compliment them on the report. I say “Well done” to everyone involved. It is critical that we read the report and that we listen to what people are saying. That is what we need to do. It was vital to hear about the shame and stigma felt by the adoptees. It is so important that we know we listen to people. In my own area of Carlow-Kilkenny, people have contacted me who have found it difficult. We have to mindful of that. The Department has established in information management unit, but I have suggested that we ought to look at a liaison officer, maybe through a local authority or the HSE. Do the witnesses think that it would be beneficial to have a local person or office, where adopted people could go in order to access information, or to have support in tracing their records?

The other issue relates to the barriers to how information is provided, for example, in the cases of people who may have literacy difficulties or maybe someone who has an intellectual disability. I asked the Minister last week to consider this, because adopted people and their families may feel left out because of how the information is provided. Maybe one of the witnesses could come back to me on that. I was going to ask about GDPR but I got the answer to that. There was a concern about the term “mother who gave birth” in the legislation, although I know that area has been addressed now. I would like to get some answers to those questions.