Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

However, it does not include "illegal" in the context of the reference to "false or misleading". It is relevant to those who have been affected by the St. Patrick’s Guild investigations, for example. For such a person, maybe his or her registration is in fact being investigated or is recognised as being illegal. Is the Minister suggesting that this is encompassed by the references to "incorrect" and "false or misleading"? Is he saying that the word "incorrect" fully encompasses “"illegal"? If "incorrect" encompasses "illegal", why not include with the consideration of the word "incorrect" not just "false or misleading" but also "illegal"? Why not specify the word "illegal"? I say this because there is a muddying of the waters where this "incorrect" frame is applied.

A person who was illegally adopted will have to say that he or she was subject to an "incorrect" adoption. It may be that it was "false or misleading", but if such a person suspects or knows that he or she was illegally adopted, he or she should not have to describe what happened to him or her in a way that does not reflect what happened to him or her. This is at the core of the debate because we talk about illegal adoptions. This is separate to it and I appreciate the nuances of investigations and the patterns.

In cases such as those that were revealed in relation to St. Patrick’s Guild, it is questionable that the State had to go on a long fishing expedition to look at potential patterns, rather than doing what it should be doing - investigating evidence of illegality and pursuing it in a proper way. The State should investigate illegal activities. That is one point. There is a separate question about what the State does in relation to illegality.

Returning to the matter of how somebody is described, a question remains regarding the description of an illegal adoption as "incorrect". The word "incorrect" includes "false or misleading", as you correctly said, but it does not include "illegal”. Are you saying that "incorrect" includes "illegal"? If it does, why not specify that "incorrect" can include "illegal"?