Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

This is obviously a very important issue, which has devastating consequences on people throughout their lives. There is a certain irony in the fact that we are rushing through legislation later in the week to facilitate intercountry adoptions, since some of the people I am talking about here were the intercountry adoptees of their day, leaving these shores - sometimes in illegal circumstances - and ending up in America, and many of them are still trying to find out who they are.

The Minister has previously refused to conduct an independent investigation into this practice. I ask her to revisit that issue. In certain instances in the not-too-distant past 97% of children born to non-married parents were either given up for adoption or died in mother and baby homes. That is a phenomenal figure. In Australia, because the figure had reached 67%, the state apologised for what the Minister has acknowledged was social practice and policy at the time. She has acknowledged the illegality and expressed regret, but there needs to be much more. I would revisit the idea of an independent investigation.

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