Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Senators Power, van Turnhout and Healy Eames on progressing this very important Bill to where it is today. Many of my colleagues have mentioned genetic issues, how important our medical history is and the right to know it. I appreciate and recognise the difficulties for some mothers. Some might want their right to privacy and to remain anonymous and this has been the practice in some instances in the past. However, I believe every household in this country has a great interest in this Bill. The right to know who you are is a basic human right. This has been said by some of my colleagues and I believe it is a human right. Everybody has a heritage and a family tree. Everybody is entitled to go back and trace their family tree. There might be some adoptees who do not wish to trace their family roots for whatever reason. That is their right.

It is time to change the law, which was changed in other countries such as Great Britain 40 or 50 years ago. I read recently about a 71-year-old man meeting his 79-year-old sister for the first time. What a wonderful achievement and how must they have felt after such a long period living in different parts of the world. It is necessary to bring in the legislation, which is long overdue and is the way forward in 2015. I welcome this legislation and congratulate my colleagues whom I have already named.