Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I wish to tease this out a little further. I recognise that the birth parents no longer have any parental rights or duties but I am focusing on the rights of the child. The child has a past that cannot just be set aside. The fact that there appears to be no statutory right for the child is an issue. I am not necessarily thinking of the birth parents but other relatives with whom the child might have enjoyed a better relationship. If there is no statutory basis for the child to have access, we are relying entirely on good practice and, to an extent, the goodwill of the adoptive parents. Such goodwill probably exists in most circumstances but it does not necessarily exist. The adoptive parents may have legitimate fears, concerns and a sense of uncertainty over a person the child might be visiting or a person to whom the child is seeking to have access. What I propose would have to be managed in consultation with the family and social workers. The child should have a statutory right, where he or she so desires, to visit or gain access to the family with whom he or she lived previously or relatives.