Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators for their contributions on these amendments. Before I speak to amendments Nos. 56 to 61, inclusive, I want to say that Senator Boyhan is right to remind us all that, once this legislation is passed and operational and once adopted people are using its provisions, there are people who will be deeply disappointed because the information simply is not there. The Senator is right we have to be wary of raising expectations and the Senator knows far better than I do because of the many people he has spoken to who have done the journey and who have got so little information or none at all. We have to be cognisant of that fact. The Senator spoke eloquently about an example where the finding of items has been of such value to an individual in filling in a blank and providing knowledge of having been loved, cared for and thought of at all times. Everything the Senator spoke of there is provided for in this Bill. Those letters, jumpers and everything like that would be provided for under this legislation.

I refer to the issue of the release of the name when the name is not the name of the parents. I am happy to go back to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and discuss this further. I want to make it clear we have done that and that this provision has been discussed at length in trying to make broad provision. That is where we are and we are happy to go back there again. What is in this Bill is not a result of not considering this issue and I want to make that clear to all Senators.

I will talk specifically to the last set of amendments. Amendment No. 56 seeks to remove the term "to the extent that it is practicable". This is a term that is used in legislation and it means as soon as possible. It is reasonable to include this term but it is important to remember that, on Report Stage in the Dáil, I brought in amendments that set timelines for relevant bodies to provide records within one month, which is comparable to the timeline provided for subject access requests, and those were Government amendments on the timeline.

Amendment No. 57 seeks to replace the categories of information with the term "personal data". The current construction of the Bill provides for the full release of information and records to a relevant person and more than they would receive under a subject access request and with a guarantee of release. Amendment No. 58 places an obligation on relevant bodies to provide "a summary of all relevant records it holds, including information to which the application does not relate". This amendment is unnecessary as relevant bodies will already be providing a supporting statement. I refer again to the ministerial guidelines that will be brought forward and that will stipulate that an enabling approach should be taken, whereby bodies should release any information over and above the categories of information set out in the Bill, except when they would be prohibited by law from doing so.

Amendment No. 59 seeks to make it an obligation for a relevant body to provide a statement alongside the records. In almost all cases a statement will be provided and the ministerial guidelines will promote the provision of a statement. There may be certain circumstances in which a statement is not necessary and Senator Seery Kearney spoke to such situations.If an applicant applies to the General Register Office to receive their birth certificate but nothing else, a statement is not necessary because the birth certificate is the birth certificate and in all circumstances speaks for itself.

On amendment No. 61, the Bill is placing obligations on relevant bodies to provide a summary of all relevant records it holds, including information to which the application does not relate. This amendment is unnecessary as relevant bodies will already be providing a supporting statement in cases where it is appropriate to do so. The ministerial guidelines are promoting the use of that statement. I believe that in the vast majority of cases, a statement will be provided but it is not necessary in all circumstances. I think we should give discretion as to the provision of the statement.