Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 1 and 3 in my name, as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle noted, seek expressly to include reference to illegal adoptions in the Bill. Currently, it does not feature the term "illegal adoption", which erases the realities and experiences of many adopted people. The Minister talks about illegal adoptions, to which reference is made in the explanatory memorandum, but the Bill itself does not contain this vital term.

On Committee Stage, the Minister outlined that "illegal birth registration" cannot be used in place of "incorrect birth registrations" as it may create a barrier in terms of proving illegality. That argument was accepted. However, in response then and now, my amendments and those of others, including amendment No. 13, seek purposely to retain the broader category of incorrect birth registration and allow acknowledgment of what people went through and its lasting impact on their lives. I was disappointed on Committee Stage that the Minister refused to accept those amendments as the addition of wording around false or misleading information was seen as sufficient. Affected people do not refer to their adoptions, or the legislation governing them, as being false or misleading; they rightly call them illegal. The Bill needs to respect their experience.

The Minister has assured us the Bill is technically correct on this matter, but it is not morally right. It is incredibly important that the terms "illegal adoptions" and "illegal birth registrations" feature alongside reference to "incorrect registrations". I fail to see why the Minister and his Department refuse to include a reference to illegality in the Bill. It not only would be accurate but it would provide an acknowledgement for survivors of some of the worst abuse in the State's history.

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