Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to move an amendment to the Order of Business, that No. 14 be taken before No. 1. No. 14 is the Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill which I, Senator van Turnhout and Senator Healy Eames published last week. The Bill is designed to do four things: to give all adoptees a right to their birth certificates and other personal records once they reach the age of 18, a right adoptees in England have had for over 40 years; to enable natural parents to request information about their adopted sons or daughters; to facilitate adoptees and natural parents in exchanging contact details where both wish to do so; and to put in place a supportive process to support those who do.

It will be ensured that no one will be forced to have direct contact with a parent or child if they do not wish to do so, but there are thousands of adoptees and mothers across this country who desperately want to reach out to the other person. I met a lady yesterday afternoon who rang me after hearing about the Bill last week. She sat down with me for a cup of coffee yesterday and told me about how she had put her child up for adoption 45 years ago and all the pain she has been carrying as a mother. She has tried to reach out through the HSE and because there is no right to information and support, she is still on a waiting list just to get an appointment with a HSE social worker. She sat down and she started crying before I said anything. She said she had not slept the night before because she knew she had to come and talk to me. She said she did not talk about this to her husband or her family, and she has not told her children. She said that she had heard me on the radio last week and wanted to know when my Bill would be passed. I had to tell her that unfortunately it will not necessarily pass - it will take the support of every Member of this House to ensure that it does pass, and it cannot be taken for granted. I will be happy to individually brief anybody on the Bill, as I know my two colleagues will. I ask Members to engage with it over the next week. It is not a party-political initiative. It is bigger than that.

We have come together as three Members from opposite sides of the House to work on this issue because each of us has a personal interest in it. I am sure many Members of the House will have adoption stories from their own families and friends and understand how important it is. We have published the Bill as a draft and are willing to amend it on Committee Stage. When we table it during Fianna Fáil Private Members' time next Wednesday, I genuinely hope we will get support from across the House. It is a huge issue and a great source of pain and anguish for 50,000 Irish adoptees and their families.