Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank our two witnesses. I hope the committee can hear me, as there is some background noise with bells ringing in Leinster House.

I refer back to the earlier session we had with Dr. Fred Logue and Mr. Simon McGarr to ask whether the witnesses had the opportunity to hear their testimony and the discussion we had. They put forward a clear and succinct account informing us that the fundamental right to information already exists under the GDPR provisions and that whatever legislative framework we introduce should not restrict those rights in any way that is in conflict with those rights. I am conscious that I was not a member of this committee when Mr. Sutherland and the Data Protection Commission gave evidence earlier but I was involved in a previous iteration of this legislation and I put it to the previous witnesses that we were always up against an obstacle where we were told that the Attorney General's advice required restrictions being placed on the right of adopted persons to access their birth information. Many of us contested that interpretation by the Attorney General and indeed Fred Logue, Conor O'Mahony and a number of other lawyers drafted an opinion that was widely publicised two years ago saying exactly what Simon McGarr and Fred Logue have told this committee today, which is that GDPR provides a right of access and that our legislation should recognise adopted persons' right to information and should facilitate access to that birth information.

What is the DPC's position on that perspective, which is, as I said, a widely shared legal perspective but one which, unfortunately, has never, it seems, been shared by successive Attorneys General and is at odds with what we have been told by successive Ministers on foot of legal advice they received? They keep referring us to a constitutional right to privacy that they say, in accordance with the I.O'T. case, supersedes or restricts the right of access to information. I lay that out because it seems to me that Fred Logue's and Simon McGarr's approach, which is widely shared by legal experts I have consulted and accords with my legal view, has never been recognised sufficiently by the drafters on the Government side. We need to reconcile that and to ensure that our legislation recognises the right of adopted persons to information and that we give effect to GDPR rights. I am just frustrated that we have never been able to get the same clarity on that as we heard in the earlier session. I would love to hear the witnesses' views. I am sorry for the lengthy question.