Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All I kept waiting for was the parents' rights in all of this. Children go through developmental phases and there are times in the development of the child when parents take it upon themselves to inform the children of certain facts to educate them. I have no idea whether parents of adopted children in this country have deliberately concealed that fact. I am aware of a significant number of adopted children who know they are adopted because the parents, at a particular time in the children's development, informed them of that fact. What struck me is that parents may be waiting for the right time to inform their children that they were adopted. If the amendment is carried, in advance of that decision by parents, children can go to the birth registration office, get the birth certificate and discover, without the parents having told them, that they are adopted. I refer to the impact of this on the relationship between the adopted child and the parents.

I am pointing out that there is complexity and it is not as simple as Senator van Turnhout has outlined, passionate and coherent as her contribution was. There was never any recognition of the parents' role in all of this. It was about the parents concealing or conspiring and not telling the adopted child about adoption right up until marriage. The child found out at 21 years of age. I am not necessarily against what the Senator is saying in principle but I have an understanding of why the 2010 law took the course it did. It is a real issue.

I am trying to apply it to myself as a parent. If I had an adopted child and if I was aware from the beginning that it was on the birth certificate, I would be dreading the day the child would come to me and say that I had never told him or her about the adoption. It could happen at school. These things get out and Senator van Turnhout made reference to a slagging match going on. It usually comes from the parent of another child. We can apply it across a range of issues in the schoolyard where things are thrown at children. Children are very cruel to one another and it usually comes from the home, when someone has found out, the neighbours have found out or the parents have confided in a neighbour or friend. At some point, the neighbour or friend tells another child that someone is adopted. Then, the slagging starts in the schoolyard. It is not directly relevant to adoption but I subjected to it in the schoolyard because of an operation I had to have when I was ten years old. It was thrown at me because word got out somehow. I do not know how it happened but it brought it home to me. I have seen many instances of it since. I am talking about how parental rights do not seem to be part of this proposed amendment.