Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 67:

In page 61, after line 44, to insert the following:

"(12) (a) An tArd-Chlaraitheoir shall keep an index to make traceable the connection between each entry in the Register of Foreign Adoptions and identifying information regarding the child's original identity, including country of birth.

(b) The index kept under paragraph (a) shall not be open to public inspection, and no information from that index shall be given to any person except by order of a court or of the Authority.".

I referred earlier to the international character of adoption, which makes the issue of tracing even more complex. I thank the Minister of State for his response to the previous amendment. He stated that 6,270 applications have been made to the Adoption Board but only 500 matches had been made on tracing.