Dáil debates

Thursday, 9 May 2013

Other Questions

Adoption Services Provision

4:50 pm

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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6. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the Adoption (Tracing and Information) Bill will be introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21860/13]

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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17. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when the Adoption Tracing and Information Bill will be brought forward; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21824/13]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 17 together.

These questions continue the discussion on adoption tracing and information. Work is continuing on the preparation of the heads of Bill of the adoption (information and tracing) Bill. My view is that persons affected by adoption or involved in the adoption process should be provided with a statutory right to as much information as possible within permissible constitutional boundaries. The constitutional and legal context within which the development of legislative proposals must be undertaken is complex. This has influenced the existing approach to access to information, which, while subject to significant development in recent years, has up to now operated on the basis of the consent of all the parties. The proposed legislation is intended to provide for a structured and regulated approach for applicants seeking access to adoption information and is also intended to facilitate contact between parties affected by adoption, including in circumstances where an adoption order was not effected.

It is intended that the Bill will provide for the Adoption Authority to be responsible for providing access to adoption records, in accordance with the provisions of the Bill. A national index of adoption records will be established and this will make it more straightforward for people who want information. It will provide a clearer and more developed process than exists currently. We will ensure that an appropriate authority, the Adoption Authority, the HSE or an accredited body can hold adoption records. However, the Adoption Authority will have overall charge of the records and will be responsible for ensuring standards are met.

The national contact preference register will be established on a statutory basis. A national tracing service will also be established under the provisions of the Bill. The operation of that service will be subject to guidelines to be set out in regulations. It is intended that the tracing service will be made available to an adopted person, a birth parent and a relative of either an adopted person or a birth parent, and that the Adoption Authority will have overall responsibility for providing the tracing service.

It is also intended that, prior to the release of the adoption information, counselling will be offered by the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the HSE or an accredited body to an adopted person, a birth parent or an adoptive parent.

As I have already said, we are currently working on the criteria for balancing the adopted person's right to information about his or her identity with the birth parent's right to privacy. This issue is clearly at the core of the matter. Some views have already been expressed here about what that balance should be. It is clear that I have to get ongoing legal advice. These questions require careful examination because constitutional issues are involved.

I want to bring the heads of the Bill before the Government at the earliest possible date. My view is that people affected by adoption should be given a statutory right to as much information as possible. As I have said, that can only be done within the constitutional boundaries that operate at present. There are challenges in developing a workable framework which respects the constitutional rights of all parties. Notwithstanding those challenges, I remain committed to achieving the policy objectives I have outlined. That is precisely what is being worked on at present.

5:00 pm

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for her reply. She said 12 months ago that she would bring the legislation before the Houses of the Oireachtas in 2012. Unfortunately, she has been unable today to give a definite timescale for when it will come before the House. She said she is working on it and that she hopes to bring the heads of the Bill before the Government some time this year. According to the legislative programme that has been published by the Whip's office, it will not be published in this session. We are looking at the autumn session at the very earliest.

I am sure the Minister will agree and acknowledge that to know one's own identity is a fundamental and basic human right. Susan Lohan of the Adoption Rights Alliance has said she feels the alliance is being stonewalled by the Minister and by the Adoption Authority of Ireland. The Minister has spoken about complexities. Maybe she will give us some insight into them. When her Cabinet colleague, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, was on the Opposition benches, he said:

I want to nail the suggestion that this is a hugely complex issue. It is an issue that has been properly and adequately addressed in a variety of other countries with the degree of insight and sensitivity necessary to ensure that birth mothers can make contact with adopted children where adopted children wish for such contact and to ensure that adopted children can trace their birth mothers and, indeed, their natural fathers where the information is available and where the natural parents wish for such contact. I urge the Minister to proceed hastily with bringing the necessary legislation before the House.
Regardless of what any of us might think about the Minister, Deputy Shatter, in his current role, no one can dispute that he is highly qualified and competent in the areas of constitutional law and family law. In light of what he said from the Opposition benches, I would like to know why this critical legislation, which is awaited by 50,000 children, is being delayed now that his party is in government.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There is absolutely no question of stonewalling in this regard. I recognise the importance of this legislation for the many people who are seeking access to more information. As the Deputy knows, many people have found a variety of ways of accessing information themselves. That does not make it less important for us to put the right statutory framework in place. That is what I am trying to do in the information and tracing Bill.

I have met Susan Lohan and others. I recently met some women and men who are in the situation described by Deputy Wallace. Those who said when a child was being adopted that certain people were the child's parents, even though they were not, engaged in illegal and criminal activity. It is an extraordinarily difficult situation for the people concerned as they try to trace their parents and get more information about their origins. It is a very complex situation for them.

The complexity is precisely what I have described to the Deputy. We must determine how far the legislation can go in giving a person who has been adopted a statutory right to seek information about his or her origins, given the constitutional provisions we have in relation to privacy. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Office of the Attorney General are working on just how far the legislation can go in meeting that precise legal challenge, in light of the 1988 case that was mentioned earlier. The approach that was laid down in that case is the constitutional position at present. I think the Deputy is very familiar with it. That is the situation.

I will provide for the Adoption Authority of Ireland to dispense with the birth parent's right to consent in certain circumstances. A range of circumstances in which the authority can dispense with the consent of the parent will be outlined in the legislation. The authority will need to have regard to a range of criteria, some of which were mentioned in the 1988 case, such as the circumstances giving rise to the birth parent placing the child for adoption, the present circumstances of the birth parent, the effect on the birth parent of the disclosure of his or her identity to the adopted person, the attitude of the birth parent to the disclosure of his or her identity to the adopted person and the ages of the parties. I hope to include a range of criteria that will ensure the approach is more flexible than the current approach. It has to be within the bounds of the constitutional position.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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As I do not want to mislead the House, I should clarify one aspect of what I said earlier. The person I mentioned who found hundreds of records in the attic approached the woman in question and told her about it. He told some agencies of the State that he had the records, but he still actually has them in his possession because no one really wanted them at the time. I want to let the Minister know that he still has them. When she has put an official body in place, I am sure he will approach it. I probably did not explain it correctly the first time. I want to let the Minister know that he still has the records in his possession. He is a good man. He has not thrown them into the public domain.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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It is important, partly in light of Deputy Wallace's comment and partly because of the delay, that measures are put in place between now and the introduction of the legislation to protect the records that are out there. There is nothing in law to require or compel people to hand over private records. We are totally reliant on the goodwill of the individual. As Deputy Wallace said, the man in this instance is a good person. He still has the records. He could quite easily have thrown them all into the bin. Potentially, the identities of hundreds of people could have gone into the bin as well. It is incredibly serious. It is hard to see how this could be an isolated incident. I ask the Minister to deal with it.

It is regrettable that the Bill is still being worked on. We thought we would have seen it before now. I would be concerned about giving a central role to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. Questions have been raised by some of the adoption rights organisations about the functioning of the authority. If I understand the Minister correctly, it might not be given all of the files but it will be given responsibility for them. I wonder how that fits in with the present situation. The HSE has collected all the files in Glanmire. If I recall correctly my dealings with staff last year, they do not have the resources to do anything with those files. There is nobody to help someone who comes to look for information. Nobody is working to arrange them in a presentable way that would help people to find their identities. Are there any plans to deal with the backlog from a staffing point of view?

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I suggest that the gentleman mentioned by Deputy Wallace who has these adoption records should have a discussion with the HSE or the Adoption Authority of Ireland in relation to the possibility of handing over those records. It seems to me that would be the right thing for this private individual who has access to adoption records from the past to do. As I said, work has already begun with the HSE on the gathering of records. If any Deputy knows about records that are in the possession of an individual, in the first instance there should be a discussion with the HSE or the Adoption Authority of Ireland about whether the individual wishes to hand them over or is in a position to do so. That would be far preferable than the records remaining in private hands as suggested by Deputy Daly.

I have mentioned that this work has commenced. The HSE has already gathered files from a variety of sources. I provided information earlier on the number of places where files have been gathered from. There is no reason not to continue with the process that is in place.

Given the number of adoptions that took place in Ireland over the years, managing those records and organising them so they are more accessible is a large task. This is something of which the HSE adoption services are very conscious. Clearly, the overall adoption situation is changing very dramatically, as I said during the week. It has changed not just nationally but internationally, and there has been quite a drop in the number of adoptions. However, the HSE still has an adoption service and adoption workers, and it will be working increasingly in this area.