Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. I thank the Senators who have introduced this Bill, in particular, Senators Power, van Turnhout and Healy Eames. As someone who has been involved in drafting Private Members' Bills I know it is not an easy task and it takes a lot of work, dedication and commitment. I thank everyone involved.

This Bill is comprehensive and carefully drafted and it progresses the debate on the subject and will help to bring about change. As Senator Power outlined, this change is long overdue compared to the changes in UK legislation which occurred over 40 years ago. It is time to move on and to stop hiding behind closed doors on this matter.

I refer to the number of people who are affected directly or indirectly by the fact that they are unable to gain access to information. I recently had a case relating to foster care where two people, both of whom I had known for 35 and 40 years, respectively, had been put into foster care. They were aged 71 and 79 years, respectively, when they met for the first time since they were children. One of the individuals was very involved in Fianna Fáil and the other was very involved in Fine Gael.