Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 73:

In page 37, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: "(g) where a parent of a relevant person is deceased, a person who, in the opinion of the Authority, had a sufficiently close connection with the parent that he or she is likely to be in possession of information that the relevant person would be willing to be provided with;".

This is another important amendment. It is particularly significant in cases where there are parents who do not reveal themselves and for whom there is a barrier to any contact with an adopted person, even if it is just about information. The amendment seeks to expand the categories of persons eligible to apply to the contact preference register to include a close friend of a parent who is now deceased. I am happy to propose this additional category. It is a positive step that reflects and recognises the close relationships a parent may have had with a friend who may have valuable information for the relevant adoptee — the person subject to an illegal birth registration — who is seeking information. We know from our consultations with the Adoption Authority of Ireland, which currently facilitates the national adoption contact preference register and that will hold the new contact preference register being established under this legislation, that friends of a parent may have important and meaningful information to share with relevant persons about a parent's time with his or her child or life after an adoption took place. The amendment will enable the sharing of this information.

The amendment is also in response to amendments brought forward by several Deputies on Committee Stage. I agreed with the spirit of those amendments and indicated I would seek to introduce amendments with the same effect on Report Stage. I refer to where a parent gave a child up for adoption and discussed it with a friend but kept it from her family. Where that parent dies without having had contact with the adopted child, the adopted child may be able to use this legislation to get the birth certificate and relevant information. The colour, the real-life experiences, are denied to the adoptee because the parent is dead but the legislation allows a friend of the parent to place their name on the contact preference register so the adopted person can, on searching the register, find someone who knew their parents and who may be able to describe who they were and their lives, and perhaps provide some important birth information that cannot be filled in with all the information about the early life. It will never make up for the fact that the adopted person will not be able to meet their parent but it can give substantial information through an engagement and, perhaps, build up a whole new relationship. I acknowledge that Deputies opposite proposed this idea. We sought to see how it could be implemented and we made provision for it in the Bill. This is another positive step and I hope Deputies will support it.

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