Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 109:

In page 15, line 8, to delete “and sections 7 and 8”.

I will be very brief as I must speak in the Chamber in a few minutes. If I leave and return, that is the reason. I was afraid that we might get to this section after I had to leave so I am glad that I have the opportunity to speak because this is one of the key sections. It is one of the key contentious issues. If you took everything else away this might be best described as the red line. It relates to the mandatory information session. People feel very strongly that if a parent registers a no contact preference that they would then be asked to attend a meeting. Regardless of whether it is with a social worker, in an in-person meeting, over Zoom or a phone call, people feel very strongly that they do not want it to take place. It should not inhibit them getting access to their birth certificates and other information. People feel that there is an attitude that the State knows best. It is something that arose a lot at our committee hearings. The committee did recommend the use of registered post and that has since been discussed in the Dáil and so on. I feel very strongly that it is an alternative we should look at putting in place. This is one part of the Bill that I would not be able to accept at all. We need to go back to the drawing board on the whole area of a mandatory information session. It is not right or fair on individuals looking for their birth certificate. There is a fear about what exactly will be said at these meetings.

From the State's point of view, I do not really understand why it would not be better to have a registered letter because it is there in black and white and nobody can say that something was said at a meeting that was not said. It is a lot more straightforward. I know there will be many arguments as to why that is not the case but I feel very strongly about it. I know people are very upset about it and they wanted us to communicate the view that they do not want a mandatory information session in any way, shape or form regardless of whether it is just a phone call, which might not seem like a big deal to people but really is. It is important that their rights and wishes are respected and that this is changed.