Mr. Bernard Gloster:

I will defer to Ms Mugan on some of the specifics on the point Senator Seery Kearney raised. However, I absolutely hear the concern about the three months and what can be done on this. I equally share the concern on how long it goes. Whatever the provision is, if the provision is three months, there has to be some extendable provision beyond that, for people who are not captured within the three months or who are not identifiable. That may be one way to look at that. To be fair to the Adoption Authority of Ireland, as the responsible body for the register, I would defer to its insight into that. Three months is short in many ways.

On the information in one place, I do not dispute that. I firmly believe in the nature of the records we have. This could be said about any part of Ireland’s statutory health and personal social service systems. If one were to gather all of the records to try to cohort them in one place with one entity, the time it would take would distract from the need for the right of access first. It is right of access first. After that, it is the issue of location and best practice location.

I hear the point about the terminology that can surround personal social services, including counselling. I have not yet encountered a terminology challenge, when it comes to the State talking about the provision of services. No matter how well-intended anyone's contribution is in that, words mean things. They can mean different things to different people. Sometimes it is hard to get that right, but it is a fair observation. Maybe Ms Mugan will conclude the answer on that part.