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

Clearly the case to which the Deputy referred is central to the discussion, as are the European decisions on the right to identity. They vary. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear on the right to identity but the I. O'T. case and the European court judgments give a more nuanced response. I wish to state for the House the Supreme Court's direction on the criteria that the lower court should taken into account when deciding whether a person had a right to access information.

The court said a range of issues needed to be taken into account, including the circumstances surrounding the natural mother's loss of custody of the child; the current status and circumstances of the natural mother and the potential effect on her of disclosure of her identity; the natural mother's own wishes and attitudes regarding the disclosure and the reasons behind these wishes and the aforementioned attitude; the current age of the natural mother and the child, respectively; the attitude of the child, including the reasons he or she seeks disclosure of his or her natural mother's identity; the present circumstances of the child; and the opinion of the adoptive parents or other interested persons.

A huge weight was given to privacy in that judgment. That is central to the current discussions on the legislation.

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