Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank very much the Senators for putting forward the amendments and the work that has gone into them. As the Senators are aware, I will make reference to post-adoption contact between birth parents and adopted children. This is not currently provided for or regulated by statute, therefore, to refer to it in adoption legislation represents a major policy change. To provide for any such plans post-adoption would require a full review of adoption policy. That is one of my first arguments. Under current practice, as referenced by the Senators, there are often arrangements in place for ongoing contact between birth parents and adopted persons and their families where there is agreement by the relevant parties. Additionally, the provisions in section 9 regarding the best interests of the child in adoption proceedings states "that the Authority or the court, as the case may be, shall have regard to ... the child's relationship with his or her parent, guardian or relative ... and any other particular circumstances pertaining to the child concerned".

The amendments also raise a possible constitutional issue in regard to the family, which the State recognises "as the natural and primary fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law", notwithstanding the points the Senators made regarding the diversity of the family. Where a child has been adopted the child concerned is considered, with regard to the rights and duties of parents and children in relation to each other, as the child of the adopter or adopters and with respect to the child, the mother or guardian of the child and every non-relevant guardian of the child loses all parental rights and is free from all parental duties in respect of the child. I expect that the Senators accept that. To require an adoptive parent to submit to a contact arrangement post-adoption raises a question regarding the constitutional protection of the family under Article 41 of the Constitution.