Results 1-15 of 15 for at segment:8273450

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: We had an initial discussion on this in which I highlighted my concerns regarding amendment No. 23. I said that while I knew there were concerns within the specifics of the proposal put forward by Sinn Féin colleagues, I explained the understanding and reason people have for not wanting it to be limited, but wanting to name many forms of personal data. It is from a long record of a...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I apologise if I am delaying matters but we will not have the chance to clarify this in the same way on Report Stage. If somebody is to make a data subject access request on information and they seek information on who has made inquiries into them during a period of time when they were a child in an institution, is it the case that the provisions of this legislation would not in any way...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 24: In page 12, line 21, to delete “Regulation;” and substitute the following: “Regulation. For the avoidance of doubt, personal data as defined under the Regulation includes, in relation to a relevant person under this Act, all records relating to the adoption or informal care arrangement of a relevant person, regardless of whether that data is...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I move amendment No. 26: In page 14, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following: “(j) any person or organisation involved in facilitating adoptions, or family separation;”. Amendments Nos. 26 to 28, inclusive, all refer to expanding the definition of "secondary information source". Currently, there is a list of various Departments, registered adoption societies and...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I cannot accept these amendments, which seek to add to the list of secondary information sources provided for in the legislation, primarily because they do not define what they are intended to cover with the clarity and specificity required in the legislation. I will draw attention to the secondary information sources currently included in the Bill, which are: the Minister for Children,...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: The impression could be given here that religious orders involved in the provision of adoption are not somehow covered. It is important to be absolutely clear here. A registered adoption society and an accredited body are both covered, so any religious institution or organisation that is either an accredited body or a registered adoption society is fully covered by this legislation. I...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: ...”. This amendment is around the insertion of additional institutions. I am slightly widening the provision by replacing "in respect of which" with "regardless of whether" a public body has or had a regulatory or inspection function. The Minister's powers to add an additional institution should not be constrained by whether a public body had a regulatory or inspection function....

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: During the discussions on this, including some of the informal consultations my officials and I did, this issue was raised. At the time, we in the Department said we were confident that all institutions that we know to have been involved in adoptions, touching on the issue of illegal birth registrations, were subject to regulation or inspection by a public body and, as such, would be covered...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: The concern is that, in the past, if an institution or public body did not adopt or perform a regulatory or inspection function, it could end up slipping out. I will reserve the right to come back to this on Report Stage. In general, it would be better to provide in the Bill the widest possible scope rather than relying on persons having to prove the exceptions to the rule because we have...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Annie Hoey: The Labour Party's substantive amendment is amendment No. 68 which Senator Higgins mentioned. That will be dealt with separately. We tabled amendments Nos. 33 to 40, inclusive, which precede amendment No. 68 which is the substantive amendment. These deal with the mandatory information session which is the big sticking point for the Labour Party. We are disappointed that we did not see...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: This grouping contains a few amendments. I think I support the amendment on age proposed by Senator Warfield. It relates to other amendments we have discussed to ensure that information can be accessed as early as possible. Persons who are 16 years of age should be able to have those records. That could be very important to a person coming up to that age of 18 when people make many...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: I thank Senators for their contributions. What we are discussing here gets fundamentally to the centre of what this legislation is trying to achieve, which is that for the very first time in Irish history, adopted people, people who were boarded out and people who were subject to an illegal birth registration would have an automatic right to their full birth, early life care, medical...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: I accept that matters have moved on with regard to the provisions, but I was here in 2017. I want to acknowledge former Senator Bacik, who, along with me and a number of others, spent many hours with the then Minister. We were told at that time that a veto was required by the Constitution. We were emphatically told that the Constitution interpretation of privacy at that time, which, again,...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Roderic O'Gorman: Regarding Senator Higgins’s query on the phrase "all relevant records", the manner in which the application form for information will be designed will be clear on the fact that a person seeking information under the legislation may choose certain types of information. We must recognise that some adopted people may wish to do this. It will be as clear as a box that reads, "For all...

Seanad: Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (24 May 2022)

Alice-Mary Higgins: As the Minister requested, I will clarify the position. Amendment No. 32 relates to a situation where someone makes an application to the register of births but no entry is found. Where a relevant body has received an application and does not hold the birth certificate, it will inform the applicant of that fact in writing and without delay. A person being told that there is no record of...