Results 7,861-7,880 of 11,754 for speaker:Roderic O'Gorman

Written Answers — Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth: Residential Institutions (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and related matters identified 923 deaths relating to children who were associated with the former Mother and Baby Home, Bessborough, Cork. It concluded that it is likely that some of the children are buried in the grounds of Bessborough but was unable to find any physical or documentary evidence of this.   In November...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 73: In page 11, lines 22 and 23, to delete “or has been”.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank the Deputies for the amendments. I will take amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive, and speak to them first. Then I will speak on the other amendments. Amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive, seek to replace the word "information" with the word "records" in respect of the provision of medical information. The goal of the amendments appears to be to ensure that where...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I hope the amendments will be withdrawn on the basis of my agreement, in principle, to bring forward provisions on Report Stage to address what is provided for in amendments Nos. 77 and 173 to 178, inclusive. If they could be withdrawn, that would help the process.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I will respond to specific amendments but, first, it is important to note that page 12 of the Bill sets out the definition of what a "provided item" is. The whole purpose behind this legislation is to provide adopted people with information. We have discussed the various categories of information. However, its purpose is also to provide them with provided items. If anything was left for...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In a number of sections, the legislation provides for guidelines to be published by me or the Minister of the day with regard to the interpretation the agencies, that is Tusla and the AAI, will give to various provisions including provisions in respect of provided items and care information. Again, this speaks to the concern that we touched on at the end of our discussion the last day, the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 81: In page 13, line 5, to delete “or has been”.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 82: In page 13, line 6, to delete “or has been”.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The context is on page 13 of the legislation where we have the definition of prescribed secondary sources. This definition includes a list of bodies that, on the enactment of the legislation, are immediately designated as secondary information sources. These include the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Minister for Education, the Minister for Health,...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Amendment No. 102 proposes to delete section (2)(2) that reads: For the purpose of the definition of “care information” and “early life information” in subsection (1), the period referred to in the definition shall be deemed to end - (a) in the case of an adopted person, on the date on which he or she became an adopted person, and (b) in the case of a person...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 103: In page 14, line 8, to delete “or has been,”. This is a technical amendment proposed by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel for the purposes of accuracy. The definition of incorrect birth registration is purposely constructed so that a person who is the subject of an illegal birth registration will always come within the scope of the definition...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I move amendment No. 105: In page 14, line 14, to delete “the name” and substitute “as a result of the giving of information that was false or misleading, the name”.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I am pleased to have this opportunity to discuss these issues because Deputies are right. This section is central to this legislation and is central to us being able to ensure that if this legislation is challenged, it will be found to be constitutional. That is a very real risk. Many of the difficulties adopted people face in this area are the result of a constitutional challenge about...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: In response to the question by Deputies Bacik and Ward, if somebody chooses not to participate in the processes set out in the legislation, he or she continues to have the right to submit an essay or application under GDPR, as anybody has. That right remains with them but the right of access to information under GDPR is not absolute in the same way it will be under this legislation. A...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: On the current national adoption preference register of the birth relatives, 4,495 birth relatives have registered. Of those, 99 have registered a no-contact preference.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: That is birth relatives.

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: -----of the discussions we have had, we are providing full right of access to a birth certificate, birth and care information etc. We are doing all those things we failed to do in the past. That absolute prioritisation of the privacy right of the parent has been inverted and now there is an absolute right to all the information but we cannot remove the privacy rights entirely from the...

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (8 Mar 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: -----because if a court is scrutinising this in the future and we believe the information meeting where the no-contact preference of the parent is conveyed - all we are asking is that the no-contact preference of the parent is conveyed to the adopted person with no undertakings or anything more than that - is necessary to ensure that in the balancing of rights, some recognition of the privacy...