Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021

Ms Mari Steed:

Ms Lohan has answered very admirably the transitional justice question. Many of us in the United States were adopted to states that do not currently support open records. It puts some people at a distinct disadvantage. There are those of us who were adopted domestically and do have rights to the records where some do not. There is a bit of inequality there also. We need the fuller picture to form our own truths. With regard to our early life records many of us were sent to the US with no documentation whatsoever.