Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I raise the announcement yesterday by the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, that she will shelve the section of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill, which is currently before the Seanad, on the right of adopted people to access their files and information relating to the circumstances of their birth and adoption. The Minister is failing to provide a basic human right, namely, that to access one's personal information, which is set out in human rights declarations and has been available in most common law countries for more than 50 years.

Was this a general Government decision or a personal initiative of the Minister? A great deal of progressive legislation has been worked out among all the parties in the Chamber. We have agreed on divorce, marriage equality, abortion and transgender rights, but adopted people and their birth mothers will all be dead by the time the Government takes any action for them.

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