Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 268:

In page 34, to delete lines 1 to 5.

This is an important one. Amendment No. 268 concerns the justifiable opposition to the Child and Family Agency having access to and processing personal data. Tusla is the default tracing service provider under the Bill, which is unacceptable given the agency is dealing with affected people. People should be given a choice of service provider, at the very least.

Amendment No. 269 removes the capacity of the Minister to intervene in the tracing process. This needs to be an absolute right that individuals can avail of themselves and not require ministerial interference.

Amendment No. 274 has a comparable purpose in removing the reference to section 33 and the role of the Minister in seeking information from individuals.

Amendment No. 270 adds a caveat to section 34(2) that requires the agency or the authority to first and foremost conduct reasonable research before seeking access to information from the person. Similar to amendment No. 268, this is about protecting adopted people and their relatives from any unnecessary request to divulge further information to these State bodies which have treated, and continue to treat, them disgracefully. There should be an overwhelming obligation on the authority and agency to carry out the tracing functions under this Bill without interfering in the lives of people affected.

Amendment No. 288 is significant in adding a much broader range of bodies to which the Minister can issue guidelines for the purposes of tracing. Currently, this only applies to the agency or the authority whereas our amendment will incorporate the range of State and religious actors outlined in section 34(6), such as Departments, the HSE, the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland. It is both prudent and desirable that the Minister be permitted to issue such guidelines to those bodies, all of which have had substantial involvement in illegal adoptions.