Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I think Deputy Bacik has articulated the position very well and eloquently. I must say at the outset, for clarity, that nobody has any issue with a birth parent who wants to register a no-contact preference. It is the parent's right to do so. Everybody would respect that. Some of us believe this mandatory information session, the information session or whatever people want to call it, is not actually necessary. It was in the spirit of accepting that it is necessary that we looked at alternatives. We are not saying we should get rid of it and have nothing. We are willing to state that there is an issue or difficulty in the balancing of the privacy rights and people's right to their information and identity. I cannot understand how the suggestion of the registered post option is not acceptable. I cannot get my head around it. I think it is the perfect alternative. In fact, as I said earlier, I think it gives greater protection to the State, because there is clearly a record. If that is what we are trying to achieve, with the registered post option there would be a very clear record. I do not see why the option cannot be looked at. I think it is much more respectful for people. Again, I do not think it matters if there is only one person who is affected by this. We are still potentially leaving out one person. I feel very strongly about it, as I know others do. In fairness, at the start of this debate, we welcomed all of the improvements and changes. I do not think anybody here is being critical just for the sake of it. There has been good progress made. However, this remains a serious sticking point. As I said, I do not think I can support the legislation if it is not changed. I really hope that Deputy Bacik's amendment, in particular, is supported. We cannot have a situation where people are being called into these information sessions. We have gone way past that. We have improved in so many areas in relation to the whole mother and baby situation. We need to have the registered post option.

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