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

The Deputy heard my earlier reply on this legislation. I am keen to progress it as soon as possible, as a lot of work has been done on it. Legal advice has been sought in detailed discussions with the Attorney General. I met her in recent weeks to consider how we could progress the legislation and what could be included in the heads of the Bill. I will have these finalised as soon as possible and submitted for the consideration of the Government in advance of referral to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. As I stated, it has involved complex legal and constitutional issues. The legislative proposals will address the circumstances in which identifying and non-identifying information may be provided. They will also examine the processes needed to be put in place to assist those seeking information. The most difficult situations to be addressed are those where the consent of other parties such as natural mothers has not been given for the release of information.

We also need to build an infrastructure that will support those seeking information, as well as for the maintenance and accessibility of the relevant records. Recently I had discussions with Gordon Jeyes who assured me this was one of the priorities in the Child and Family Agency’s business plan, with five social workers allocated to work in this area to ensure those seeking information received a quality service. A lot of work still has to be done in this area as it has been neglected in the past. Considerable infrastructure will have to be provided to deal with at least 50,000 files, if not more, as we will not have the full number until we introduce the statutory obligation on the agencies which hold these records.

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