Seanad debates

Tuesday, 16 November 2021

Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters

Registration of Births

2:30 pm

Photo of Victor BoyhanVictor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank the Cathaoirleach for agreeing to the taking of this Commencement matter today. This issue relates to the proposals for the State's response to illegal birth registrations in Ireland. There are many complexities and issues with respect to children in care but this issue is specifically focused on illegal birth registrations in Ireland. We know a report has been compiled by Professor Conor O'Mahony. It has been sitting on the Minister's desk for approximately six weeks.I cannot state for certain that the Minister has read the report but I am aware that he has it. What is worrying about it is that many people sitting in their homes today will not be aware of the finer detail regarding illegal birth registrations in Ireland. We know the sad litany of stories relating to children in care. We also know of some of the journeys these children have taken. I do not want to mention individual organisations, some of which facilitated the illegal registration and transfer of children to other families. Often their motives were well-meaning and I do not want to suggest otherwise but at the end of the day, it was not always a happy experience for those children.

I spoke to a family of seven yesterday, all of whom were placed in care in Dublin in one of the major institutions that dealt with children. All of them were adopted but they have never been able to get to the truth. They have been subjected to denial about their history and their past. Two of them now realise that they were born a month apart but have been celebrating birthdays that are supposedly two years apart. The circumstances are tragic. They have been denied their authenticity, their history and the truth about where they belong and their journey. I speak as someone who grew up in care. I know that we all want to know where we came from. We want to know our past and our journey. One of the big issues is that people have been denied that and the Church and the State have been complicit in it.

What does the report that is with the Minister say? Are we going to continue to fabricate, tell lies and send people on a different journey? How can one square this for the seven people to whom I spoke, all of whom are now adults over 50 years of age? They have been denied access to their information. They have been told that they are ungrateful individuals but they have been told so many lies about their identity, their past and where they belong.

I do not want to keep making this case because I am sick and tired of doing so. It is sad when people have to lay bare their own issues in order to convince people. I do not doubt the commitment of the Minister of State but time is up. We have got to tell the people who were illegally adopted. More importantly, they were provided with false documentation, including false baptismal certificates, and a whole range of false information. I want, more than anything, for this report to be published as quickly as possible. I want the necessary counselling and supports to be given to these people.

I will wrap up by saying that we see the world from where we stand and our experiences in it. We bring the good, the bad and the ugly, everything that shapes and moulds us as children, into the future and we cannot forget it. Indeed, we should not forget it and we should not deny it. I do not expect an elaborate response from the Minister of State. I know that she speaks from the heart. That is her style and she has a reputation for it. I do not want her to stand up and read from a sheet of paper, telling me what the Minister has said. I want the Minister of State to take a message back to the Minister from me. The message is, let us get this report published; let us not leave it for another six weeks on the Minister's desk; and let us engage meaningfully and honestly with the people involved.

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