Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire as a phost nua. I welcome the Bill and commend Deputy Anne Ferris for its introduction. It responds to the real needs of families and individuals in Ireland. We all accept that the current law is rigid and has many flaws. It is not sufficient and has a number of loopholes. I welcome the fact that the Bill will proceed to Committee Stage and that this process will ensure speedy progress for those affected.

There have been many advances in social attitudes, family law and children's rights recently. We have advanced from an era in which children born outside marriage were stigmatised with the label of so-called illegitimacy. We have moved on from the time when women were imprisoned and enslaved in institutions such as Magdalen laundries and mother and baby homes. Mothers had their infants taken away for adoption. We all accept in this House that these women were treated as less than second-class citizens. I am thankful that the widespread separation of birth mothers from their children owing to deeply conservative and social pressures and the oppression of women are no longer a feature of Irish society.

Many of the issues arising today concern the adoption of children from outside Ireland, the rights of adopted children and parents who have given up their children for adoption, and access to adopted children by their biological parents and relatives. There are also other issues to be considered and I will comment on these towards the end of my contribution.

Consider the full implications of section 58 of the Adoption Act 2010. They received relatively little attention during the passage of that legislation in the Oireachtas. The section states:

Upon an adoption order being made, or the recognition under this Act of an intercountry adoption effected outside the State—(a) the child concerned shall be considered, with regard to the rights and duties of parents and children in relation to each other, as the child of the adopters born to them in lawful wedlock,

(b) with respect to the child, the mother or guardian of the child, and the child’s father, shall, subject to , lose all parental rights and be freed from all parental duties.

This section extinguishes all the rights of natural parents and their relatives, such as grandparents. The Bill proposes to change section 58 of the Act to allow the natural parent or relatives to agree measures to facilitate ongoing access to the child. This would be done either with the adoption authority in advance of an adoption or the adopter afterwards. The Bill would also allow a natural parent to apply to the courts to seek access. There is a valid argument that the Act, as it stands, is too inflexible. It should allow scope for access by agreement. It is very important that the arrangement respect the rights of all concerned, especially the adopted child.

I was watching a television programme last night that referred to adoption, the rights of the family and the rights of the child. Our primary consideration should be the child. It should be emphasised that adoptive parents are real parents of the adopted child. It is recognised that emotional damage can be caused to children and adults by the severing of natural family ties. People now wish to address this problem. The legislation, as it stands, is seen as an obstacle in this regard.

We support the passage of this Bill. I would like to see its provisions teased out on Committee Stage, as the Minister stated, and I would like all its possible implications, both positive and negative, considered, bearing in mind the perspectives of the adopted child, adoptive parents and the natural parents and relatives.

There are other outstanding legal issues in respect of adoption that are not covered in this Bill but that need to be addressed. Perhaps this could be considered on Committee Stage. Some of the issues have been brought to the attention of Members. Let me give the Minister an example that was given to the former Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. The problem was made known to me by one family but it affects a number of families across the State. When the husband of a young woman with a number of children died, she moved on, met someone else, fell in love and remarried. Owing to this experience and her desire for a stable family, she and her new husband considered the possibility of his adopting her children. Difficulties arose straightaway in this regard because of the inter-country adoption provisions. The lady was told she had to let go of her children and get her husband to adopt them. She had to formally adopt her own children afterwards. This is one of the anomalies in the law. The former Minister for Children and Youth Affairs said she was aware of the anomaly and that it might take a number of years to address it. That is not good enough. One should consider how the children involved are affected. They have to get their birth certificates changed to state they are adopted by their own mother. This is crazy. The law shows no sense of feeling for affected families. The mother in question said she went to a number of meetings attended by large groups. Therefore, it is not just a matter of one or two individuals affected in Ireland. This needs to be examined.

The current regime, apart from requiring a mother to adopt her own child, wastes resources. Families must be vetted by the Garda, and social workers must call out. The child has to be shown a photograph of his or her own parents to prove their identity. If this is how we enact legislation, we must reconsider it. We need flexibility rather than rigidity. The mother in question said that while it is great to receive sympathy, empathy and kind words, these are not enough. She said she wanted to see action and to know that no other family would have to experience what she experienced.

If we are really sincere about having an inclusive society, we should not be narrowing the confines of our laws to force people down paths down which they do not want to go. People want to move on with their lives. I have given a perfect example of a family that desired a new beginning. We should be making it easier for such families but, unfortunately, this is not what has been happening.

I welcome the Bill. The House needs to consider this area. While I acknowledge the difficulties that arise and the considerable demand to adopt children and while I realise the law needs to be very strict regarding new adoptive parents, we must consider what is best for the child and prospective families under the new structures. I thank Deputy Anne Ferris for introducing the Bill. There have been significant changes in social attitudes.

I hope her story will prevent other families or individuals having to endure the same experience in the years ahead. The Bill is about responding to the needs of society and, as such, I welcome the decision to allow it to proceed. I hope, however, it does not get stuck in committee for two, three or four years. The Minister is new to the portfolio and could do a great deal of good for by progressing the legislation.

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