Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy knows that the Government is bringing in such legislation and that our legislation has been fully and comprehensively informed, from a legal perspective, by the Attorney General. I ask the Deputy to wait for the Government legislation to be published and I ask that all parties in the House, in a spirit of co-operation, would work on that legislation. It is being formulated to give access to birth information, birth certificates and very basic information in terms of identity to which every individual and human being is entitled. The previous Dáil attempted to do this but it was not in a proposition to achieve consensus on the matter when the previous Minister brought forward legislation. There is now an opportunity to deal with this matter once and for all on a cross-party basis and provide access to information. It should be done in a non-partisan way because we all want to do the right thing. All parties have articulated a similar view. The Minister has given an indicative timeline that he will have the legislation by the end of March. It is complex work, but he is determined to do it.

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