Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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5. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the delay in relation to the publication of long-promised legislation on adoption and tracing, if he will consider supporting the Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43989/14]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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I am conscious that the Minister is the third to hold this brief. Since I was elected to the Dáil I have been raising the issue of adoption information and tracing legislation on behalf of the 50,000 adopted persons in Ireland who do not have an automatic right to their birth certificates, listing their original names and parents’ details, a right that others take for granted. This legislation has been promised every year and we are told it is on the way. It now looks very likely that it will not be delivered in the lifetime of the Government, unless the Minister decides to support the Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014 recently brought forward by Senator Jillian van Turnhout. What is the Minister’s opinion on that Bill which can offer a way forward to ensuring the rights of these citizens?

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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It will not be the case that this issue will not be addressed during the lifetime of the Government, as it very definitely will be. The House will be aware that the Adoption (Identity and Information )Bill 2014,introduced by Senators Averil Power, Jillian van Turnhout and Fidelma Healy Eames, will be debated in the Seanad this evening. The Department has considered the draft Bill and noted that there is much to be commended in it and, in relation to the areas of concern that it addresses, it is very much in line with the tenor of the draft Bill being prepared in the Department. On this basis, I will not be opposing the Bill, but I understand some aspects of it may not have full regard to all of the constitutional issues which are engaged. The Bill is being fully reviewed as part of the ongoing work in the drafting of my own proposed Bill on adoption information and tracing.

I acknowledge that the current position in Ireland is that there is no legal basis for the provision of services in regard to information and tracing for those affected by adoption. I am taking a positive and proactive approach to introducing measures to address this situation. In this context, I have instigated the following policy and operational developments: development of an adoption (information and tracing) general scheme and heads of Bill which will provide for statutory access to adoption records and birth information. This work is well under way. There were two iterations of heads of Bill before I came into the Department. The heads will provide access to records for birth parents and adopted persons in so far as is possible in line with legal advice. I am proposing as progressive an approach as is possible within the significant legal and operational complexities which arise in giving effect to this objective. The proposed legislation will provide, among other things, for placing the national adoption contact preference register on a statutory basis; arranging for the management of adoption records; setting out the information to be provided and circumstances in which it can be provided both for retrospective and prospective adoptions; and providing for information and tracing support services.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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My understanding is that the Government will be more short-lived than the Minister thinks. Time is running out for him. I am cognisant of the fact that we have heard similar promises before. I do not blame the Minister personally for this, but every year we are told that the heads of the Bill are near to fruition. I am concerned that departmental officials complement many aspects of the Seanad Bill. The Senators brought forward this legislation off their own bat without the resources of the Department, which leads one to ask why there was such a delay in the first place. I am concerned when the Minister talks about what is possible because the biggest impediment has been an over-conservative interpretation of the I O’T v. B ruling on the right to privacy which the Government and others have interpreted as closing the door on people’s right to information when the Supreme Court, in fact, stated the right should be balanced with people’s right to an identity. The Bill provides the balance to do this and would bring Ireland into compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the recognition in the European Court of Human Rights and the Constitution of a person’s identity. It would be more expedient to support the Bill considering that it has been drafted to get us to the next stage.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The Taoiseach has made it very clear that the Government will go to the end of its term, but the Deputy may have other ideas and is entitled to entertain them.

On this issue and given the timing, with no disrespect to the Deputy who is engaged in this area, I feel a certain deference to the three Senators to debate the issue in the Seanad rather than pre-empt the outcome here. Time does not allow us to go through the Bill and the issues therein that must be addressed, but I thank the Senators for the work they have done. It is my intention to have the general scheme and heads of the Bill finalised as soon as possible and submitted for consideration by the Government in advance of referral to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. This will be the subject of consultation with all relevant Departments in advance. I have met several groups in this regard. In parallel, I have requested officials to commence an examination of operational arrangements for the preservation of, and access to, adoption records both to secure existing service provision and to make ready for any proposed new legislation. I am conscious that the draft Bill seeks to legislate for some of the matters that I am proposing to address in the general scheme and heads of the adoption (information and tracing) Bill. I have given the matter careful consideration and look forward to a constructive debate on this important issue in the Seanad this evening.