Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is welcome to a certain extent and is an improvement on the current situation, but I asked the Minister two fundamental questions which she has not answered. This issue, along with many others, underlines the problem with rushing this Bill. I suggest, given the fact that only four Members are in the Chamber, that the vast majority of Deputies have not read the Bill. It is very fundamental and should not have been rushed, a point I want to repeat.

I asked the Minister what the arrangements will be for passing on that information. When an 18 year old requests his or her birth certificate, what will be the arrangements for telling that person there is additional information? It is not adequate to say that this will be developed as the Bill progresses. It will be passed and signed, I presume, within the next few weeks.

What arrangements will be in place to ensure that people will get access to that information? Will all registrars know that some additional information may need to be passed on? What will the advice be to registrars in terms of how that life-changing news is passed on to somebody and ensure it is done in a sensitive way? Is it the intention of the Minister that health information would form part of the anonymous information that would be available to a young person in those circumstances?

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