Ms Rhoda Mac Manus:

I have my own personal experience with regard to inaccurate information that is in the files. It was not until I got a copy of the consent form that I signed, which I never got a copy of at the time and which I was not aware I was entitled to, that I found they had increased my age from 16 to 18 years old on the consent form. Now, if my daughter had access to the documents before she met me, she would think I was 18 years old when I gave birth to her and not 16 years old. That is just an example of the kind of thing we need to correct.

I will also expand on something I said about when the social worker would help somebody to write a statement to be added to the file. It is something we have looked at and have been talking about for 20 years. I did not mean that the social worker would have any part in actually phrasing it but simply that he or she would act as a secretary and, maybe, because the women would be very emotional and nervous, remind her of particular aspects of her life that she might want to include or might have forgotten. That is all. It is not that he or she would have control over the statement but would simply be there to hold the woman's hand while she is doing it. That is all.