Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 8, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:"(c) a body of persons or society that was, at any time, an "accredited body" as defined by section 10 of the Act of 2010 or that was, at any time, a body of persons or society registered in the Adoption Societies Register maintained under section 35 of the Adoption Act 1952;".

This amendment is to clarify that formerly accredited bodies and adoption societies can be also required to give information under section 4. Admittedly, this may not be of much use if the body has closed down or been destroyed or has destroyed or transferred its records, but it may be worth including in case such bodies still exist but are not currently accredited or they know where records have been stored. Did we not see this in the Philomena Lee case with Sean Ross Abbey? The records were there but their existence was denied. This is a critical matter. We are discussing very old people. The records are sacrosanct - they are those people's birth stories. We will do the State an incredible service by collecting them, storing them in one place and pursuing every society or registered body that had the right to carry out adoptions at any time in our history.