Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I oppose the amendments on the basic principle that consent to adoption must be given freely. The period of 12 months selected by Deputy Shatter is absolutely right. It is a very long period in the life of an infant. As the Deputy noted, a great deal of work has been done on the issue of attachment to carers which occurs very quickly in the early years of life. Later on in life 12 months is not such a long period and when an adoption occurs at the age of five or six, 12 months might seem slightly capricious or arbitrary.

I made the point on Committee Stage and reiterate that if a child finds out later in life that the mother wanted the child back after 12 months, perhaps because there had been reasons of an episode of depression or infirmity of some sort that took her out of the picture, if she comes back and expresses a wish not to place the child after all, it would be very tough to explain that to a child in subsequent years. There could have been an episode of depression or infirmity of some sort that took the mother out of the picture. If she returns and expresses a wish not to place the child after all, it would be very tough to explain to a child in subsequent years.

The points Deputy Shatter makes are genuine and come from his experience in practice. He detailed problems in prolonged periods for different reasons, with consent being withdrawn. For example, he spoke about consent being withdrawn with the mother disappearing for a period or going overseas. It is for that reason that section 31 allows a scenario where a person with whom a child is placed for adoption can apply to court for an order dispensing with consent. That is trying to safeguard the issue raised by Deputy Shatter.

Equally, section 26 provides that the requirement for the mother or guardian consent to the making of an adoption order may be dispensed with in certain circumstances. However, the adoption authority must again obtain High Court approval before dispensing with such consent.

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