Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My apologies for not answering that earlier. The primary purpose of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 is to provide an adopted person with a statutory right to apply for his or her birth certificate and information about his or her adoption order. A further aim of the Bill is to give adopted persons, birth parents and relatives a statutory right to an information and tracing service. People who have been subject to an incorrect registration will acquire the right to the same information and tracing service.

The Bill was published in 2016, has passed Second Stage in Seanad Éireann and is awaiting Committee Stage. The Bill has not stalled. The Minister is working on a number of amendments, which are now on Committee Stage. The Minister has met Opposition and Independent Members in the Seanad on many occasions to work through some of the complex issues that arise.

The Bill relates to significant personal rights and to identity and to privacy, and these need to be carefully balanced. The work is ongoing to do this. Enactment and commencement of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 remains a priority of the Minister, Deputy Zappone, and the Government.

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