Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I can agree with an awful lot of what has been said. As Senator Bacik said, we need to talk about this. We need to talk about the State collusion and shame on the one hand and the abuse on the other hand. I come from a constituency that is deeply impacted by this and I have been contacted by a number of my friends in this regard in recent days.

It is incredibly difficult to put a shape on this because it is not about this Bill but is about the larger issue. I have a fear in respect of those who state they will not support this Bill because of its technicalities. The impact of that is to not support those in our communities who need to access the information. It has already been mentioned here that significant work was done by the previous Minister in trying to pass legislation that would allow people access to the records. Over that time, it was not achieved. Therefore, I am not sure how we think we could achieve that before 30 October in order to secure access on an ongoing basis in order that we can pass proper legislation, do the scrutiny and engage with the stakeholders.

That is the nub of it and the fact that Senator McDowell has raised the issue of privacy goes to show the divisions around this issue, that there are competing interests and that there are interests in respect of privacy that we have to address. Those people also must be involved in the stakeholder engagement. I would like people to have access to their records because it is incredibly important that one has access to one's biological database. However, that cannot be achieved today.

I would like to give assurances, however, and the Minister has given assurances that it is important for the Government that we solve the issue. I hope everyone across the House will join with me and with all of us in trying to solve the issue of those competing interests.