Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will work proactively with Ms Lee and the Philomena Project, and will give it every assistance I can in terms of making data and records available. I have made such information available to this House in response to a number of parliamentary questions in recent months.

We are still teasing out the complex constitutional issues that arise in regard to adoption tracing. I have previously stated that I want the legislation to go as far as possible within the constitutional limits. I am not in a position to indicate precisely when it will be ready because of the complexity of the work being done by my Department and the Attorney General. Once the heads of the Bill have been agreed by the Government, however, I will ask the Joint Committee on Health and Children to examine them. That will give a public opportunity to all interested groups, including the Adoption Rights Alliance and the Philomena Project, to make observations on the legislation. On the legal side, the examination by the committee will also provide an opportunity to tease out the aforementioned constitutional complexities.

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