Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

According to the explanatory memorandum, the purpose of the Bill is to provide "for restating or updating of the provisions of the Adoption Acts 1952-1998, as appropriate, and for the repeal of those Acts. It also gives force of law to the Hague Convention". The purpose of the amendments is to ensure the legislation is as comprehensive as possible, which is clearly not the intention of the Minister of State given that he has rejected amendments on tracing, the right to one's birth certificate, post-adoption services and the other issues under discussion.

As Deputy Shatter noted in reading from the reports, the amendments in this group relate to the vast majority of adoptions in this country in recent years and the circumstances in which people find themselves. It is wrong, therefore, to choose not to incorporate these provisions in what is intended to be comprehensive adoption legislation covering all the elements and types of adoption that are likely to arise in the foreseeable future.

The Minister of State indicated he will introduce legislation dealing with issues such as tracing. Given the legislative pressure on the Government, I do not believe it will be possible for him to do so in the near future. For this reason, I urge him to take this opportunity to make the Bill as comprehensive as possible. He appears to agree that the issues covered in the amendments need to be addressed. The proposals have been recommended in reports issued by the Law Reform Commission. It is wrong to reject the elements we are proposing to have incorporated in the Bill to make it as comprehensive as possible.

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