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

It used to go as far as niece and nephew and stop there. Now it also includes nieces and nephews and clarifies that it applies whether they are of half-blood or full-blood, because the percentages are the same. It also includes grandnieces and grandnephews, a category which was not included before. I take on board what Deputy Canney is saying.

There are people who are at the relationship of cousins from a potential child who is buried in the Tuam site, for example, who are deeply concerned and want this ability. I am not going to be able to make a legislative change on it today. There will be an implementation group set up overseeing the application of this Act and we will also be reviewing the Act. There will be an opportunity then, especially if we have seen that advance in science, in respect of maybe making a change at that stage. Of course, people can get their own DNA taken and undertake a process to preserve that as well. We can give DNA at any point in our lives. The key concern for me right now is that the experts say there is not a capacity to link, with the degree of certainty we would need, a person who is at a cousin's remove from a child who is buried in this site. I do have to take that guidance. Where I have seen that it could be widened to usable effect I have done that.

See this speech in context