Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Yet again we find ourselves in a discussion involving the deep, damaging culture of secrecy that has permeated in Ireland for so many years. There was, in some cases, a culture of criminal obfuscation. We know the damage done at the time by all these acts lingers because those who are affected are still with us. They have continued to face major obstacles as they try to seek justice or even information in respect of their own lives and origins.

I recognise the Minister's response and we are speaking about 126 cases today. We all know there are many more cases. I join Senator Norris in praising Mr. Conall Ó Fátharta, the journalist at the Irish Examinerwho has written clearly about this for years. We know that in 2013, people from the Adoption Authority of Ireland met representatives of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and flagged concerns about illegal adoptions from St. Patrick's Guild and other institutions, such as St. Rita's nursing home. We know it was mentioned and I recognise it was before the Minister's time in office. We need to listen to concerns as they arise and have an assumption of action. I recognise that this is a sampling and there still has not been an audit; this is only to see if we will have an audit. How quickly will that sampling take place and will we deliver an audit? An audit will be required so will it be delivered on the Minister's watch?

We know illegal adoption has taken place and, as the Minister correctly states, it was a crime at the time. Will there be criminal proceedings and what criminal inquiry or actions will be taken? The criminal acts have come to light but along with them is a set of other measures and policies. We heard just a sample of stories about forced adoption and adoption under duress, as well as obfuscation of information. All of that package of deceit must be addressed. Will there be an inquiry into adoption practices and the architecture of containment and, in some cases, exploitation and secrecy that has surrounded this practice in Ireland? We need to do this as well as addressing the immediate issue of sampling and audit.

People spoke about balancing of rights and we have had that discussion. There is now a question of trust and who we trust. Do we trust these adoption agencies, or others, who tell us women did not want to be contacted, for example? There is a question of assumptions around consent. We are constantly hearing stories about a lack of consent, duress and deceit. We will discuss this in the information and tracing Bill but perhaps we should not assume that people have given consent and did not want to be contacted, although we should certainly allow people to opt out of being contacted when appropriate. We should not make assumptions. There will be questions but we cannot take any more blanket assumptions or declarations from agencies. We need to listen to and trust women. It is the message that Ireland has been sending and we must listen to it. When individuals come forward we can discuss the balancing of rights and appropriate processes. That will be important.

I give some recognition today of Ms Kathy McMahon of the Voice of Irish First Mothers group, one of those who highlighted the matter of forced adoption but who, sadly, passed away without receiving the justice that she sought. There are also groups like the Adoption Rights Alliance. These are real people coming forward with their testimony and their voices. They can no longer be placed in the margins of any process and their testimony must be at the centre of this. We must ensure they are allowed to drive forward and set the terms of the process. I thank the Minister for coming here and I know we will have a more detailed discussion. I acknowledge that we have started something we discussed in the adoption Bill, a process of review with respect to open adoption in Ireland. We need to address the culture of secrecy from the past and I hope we can change that culture of secrecy in future. I am sure we will have a chance to debate that as well.