Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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8. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will reconsider the one year lead-in time included in the heads of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill, given that further delay for an ageing community of adoptees and natural mothers may result in missed opportunities for reunions. [42499/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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This question relates to the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill which, thankfully, we are on the verge of concluding. In framing the question, it is fair to say that the Minister has delivered this Bill in a manner which the adoption community broadly believes was very consultative and participatory. However, the one area that remains problematic and about which I wish to make a last ditch plea in order to make what is a good Bill even better, is the issue of the one year lead-in time. I ask the Minister to reconsider that provision.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Daly for her question. Efforts have been ongoing for many years to provide a statutory entitlement to information to persons separated as a result of an adoption. In this regard, the Government approved the publication of the heads and general scheme of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015 in July. The Bill is intended to facilitate access to adoption information and operates on the basis of a presumption in favour of disclosing information in so far as is legally and constitutionally possible. The Bill will, for the first time, provide a statutory basis for the provision of information related to both past and future adoptions. It will provide clarity around the information that can be provided and the circumstances in which it can be provided.

I referred the Bill to the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Health and Children for pre-legislative scrutiny. The committee published its report last week and my officials are currently examining the recommendations of thereport. I note that one of the key recommendations relates to the length of time being provided for the operation of an information and awareness campaign. The awareness campaign will be a high-level campaign to publicise the provisions of the new legislation, outlining what information can be provided to adopted people and birth parents and the circumstances in which it can be provided. It is part of a suite of measures that the Bill provides in order to ensure the balancing of parental privacy with an adopted person’s right to information. I would point out that during the period when the campaign is underway the information required to apply for a birth certificate will be provided to an adopted person where a birth parent consents or where a birth parent is deceased. In this regard, the campaign will not impact on the sharing of information and-or contact between birth parents and adoptees, where there is agreement by both parties.

I am aware that there is a level of dissatisfaction around some of the requirements of the proposed scheme. However, as the Deputy will appreciate, for the Bill to be legally sound it must include safeguards to protect the constitutional rights of parents to privacy and adopted persons to their identity. I believe that the safeguards proposed in this Bill, including the awareness campaign, statutory declaration, the offer of support and guidance and the possibility of an appeal to court provide sufficient protection of birth parents' constitutional right to privacy and balance the right to identity information with protection of privacy. Any amendment to the Bill must be considered in this context.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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I appreciate that the Minister was pulled in different directions on this and that he was constrained by legal and constitutional issues. However, I have a general problem with the advice of the Attorney General not being published. If there is a constitutional impediment it should be addressed if we are to put the right of children to their identity first. This is another argument in favour of changing the Constitution but that said, I acknowledge the good elements of the Bill and am aware that most people in the adoption community believe that the Minister's handling of this legislation has been very positive. The key outstanding issue is the age profile of the people involved. Half of those who were adopted since 1922 have passed away. Given that their natural mothers are considerably older, at least by 20 years, a delay of a year will mean that hundreds of potential reunifications will be lost. I ask the Minister to consider reducing the period to between 30 and 60 days and to conduct a much more intensive information campaign. He should refocus the resources that were to be spent over the course of a year and hone them into a shorter period so we can facilitate people achieving a connection that many of them have long sought.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I am aware that the age profile of many of those involved means that time is of the essence from their point of view. I certainly do not want any undue or unnecessary delay and this is one of the areas that we are examining very closely. We must have regard to legal advice. I know that creates problems from Deputy Daly's point of view but the law is there for a good reason, in fairness. I am actively looking at this issue and will endeavour to do everything I can to reduce the lead-in period, while also making sure that it is sufficiently long so as not to create a problem for the Bill or to undermine it from a legal point of view. We must be very careful here in terms of unforeseen consequences. The last thing I want, having got this Bill to this point, is to have it challenged in court and struck down. People have waited a long time for this. I am very aware of the sensitivities involved and know the hurt that people feel. I also know that sometimes they think we have been a bit too legalistic in our approach but we must make sure that the Bill succeeds and gives them what they want, which is a right to their identity. At the same time, the Bill also provides for a proactive approach in that when someone registers, we will actively find a contact for him or her.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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I accept the Minister's good intentions and bona fides on this. The Bill raised constitutional issues in terms of the Supreme Court ruling on the right to privacy of natural mothers and the one year lead-in period was provided for in that context, along with the veto. However, I understand that the one year lead-in time was not specifically part of the Attorney General's advice. Given that the Minister has said that he is considering it in the spirit, which is very important to the adoption community, of ensuring that no one is left behind, then hopefully we will be able to reduce the time limit. I would very much like it to be 30 or 60 days but even six months or four months would be better than a year. Every month by which we reduce it potentially brings people together and gives them their right to an identity, in some instances before they pass away, which is hugely important.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate that this is an issue that I am actively examining and regularly reviewing. I would like to see it reduced to the shortest possible time but still remain safe from a legal point of view. I am not implying that the Attorney General, in this particular instance, has given advice regarding the year's duration. However, we have legal advice to that effect at the moment and we will seek to get hardened advice that will allow us to reduce it as much as possible.

I wish to take the opportunity to thank all those in the adoption community, adoptees and birth mothers and all who have taken the time to speak to us. I also thank all of those who made contributions during the pre-legislative scrutiny process at the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. I thank everyone for their forbearance and reassure them that we are seeking to address this issue to their satisfaction.