Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 12, line 21, to delete “Regulation;” and substitute the following: “Regulation. Under this Act, all records relating to the adoption or informal care arrangement of a relevant person are considered to be that person’s personal data, regardless of whether that data is shared with another person. Personal data in relation to a relevant person, includes but is not limited to:

(a) personal data in terms of the relevant person’s physical, mental, and physiological identity, including but not limited to:

(i) the relevant person’s place of birth;

(ii) details, if applicable, of whether the relevant person was carried to full term, and if not, what precipitated early delivery and at what stage in the pregnancy;

(iii) the relevant person’s health status at birth;

(iv) details regarding the circumstances of the relevant person’s birth, e.g. was it a normal birth or if there were complications;

(v) the relevant person’s birth weight;

(vi) the relevant person’s physical condition and circumstances during their early months and years;

(vii) records concerning the relevant person’s early-life care;

(viii) records concerning the relevant person’s health from birth until the time of placement;

(ix) the relevant person’s medical records from birth until the time of placement, including x-rays, tests, vaccines;

(x) the relevant person’s family medical history;

(xi) records of any vaccine trials in which the relevant person was a research subject;

(b) personal data in terms of the relevant person’s genetic identity, including but not limited to:

(i) the relevant person’s name at birth;

(ii) the relevant person’s birth certificate;

(iii) the relevant person’s mother’s forename and surname, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s mother was born outside of Ireland;

(iv) the relevant person’s father’s forename and surname, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s father was born outside of Ireland;

(v) the relevant person’s genetic relatives’ names, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s relative was born outside of Ireland;

(c) personal data in terms of the relevant person’s economic, cultural and social identity, both before and after their adoption or placement in informal care, relating to their economic, cultural and social identity both around the time of their birth and after their adoption or placement in informal care, and which relate to how the relevant person acquired their adoptive identity, including but not limited to:

(i) the relevant person’s name at birth, as held in the public Register of Births;

(ii) the relevant person’s date of birth;

(iii) the relevant person’s place of birth;

(iv) the relevant person’s mother’s forename and surname, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s mother was born outside of Ireland;

(v) the relevant person’s father’s forename and surname, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s father was born outside of Ireland;

(vi) the relevant person’s relatives’ names, as held in the public Register of Births or equivalent if the relevant person’s relative was born outside of Ireland;

(vii) the relevant person’s county/country of origin at the time of their birth;

(viii) the occupation of the relevant person’s parents and family members at the time of the relevant person’s birth;

(ix) the relevant person’s parents’ ages at the time of the relevant person’s birth;

(x) the relevant person’s grandparents’ occupations at the time of the relevant person’s birth;

(xi) the number of siblings in the immediate family of the relevant person’s mother;

(xii) the circumstances surrounding the relevant person’s adoption or informal care arrangement;

(xiii) correspondence about the relevant person, including correspondence associated with the administrative process surrounding the relevant person’s adoption or informal care arrangement, and correspondence from the relevant person’s mother enquiring about the relevant person;

(xiv) the assessment process associated with the relevant person’s adoption or informal care arrangement;

(xv) the administrative process surrounding the relevant person’s adoption or informal placement, including records about the decision-making process around the placement, correspondence with the adoptive parents and others, and how the relevant person acquired their adoptive/new identity;

(xvi) the names of the people responsible for the relevant person’s care during the relevant person’s early weeks, months and years;

(xvii) the place at which the relevant person resided and the individual who was in charge of that place;

(xviii) where applicable, the date and place of the relevant person’s baptism or any other ceremony of a religious or spiritual nature performed in the period in respect of the relevant person;

(xix) where applicable, any person, agency or organisation who made arrangements for the relevant person’s adoption, whether or not an adoption was effected in respect of the relevant person;

(xx) where applicable, the date on which the relevant person was made the subject of a foster care arrangement or placed with prospective adopters;

(xxi) information regarding whether the relevant person’s mother was resident in any other institution offering social care/support either prior to or subsequent to the adopted person’s birth;

(xxii) information regarding whether the mother stayed at the institution with the adopted person prior to their placement with the adoptive parents;

(xxiii) any anecdotal information regarding the adopted person’s stay in the institution;

(xxiv) if applicable, whether the relevant person’s mother was transferred from the Mother and Baby Home to a Magdalene Laundry or other institution, and if so, details of the circumstances;

(xxv) if applicable, whether the relevant person’s mother was transferred from a Magdalene Laundry or another institution, to the Mother and Baby Home prior to giving birth and if so, details of the circumstances;

(xxvi) whether the relevant person’s mother gave informed consent to the adoption;

(xxvii) whether the relevant person’s mother was made aware of or offered any other choices apart from adoption;

(xxviii) whether the relevant person’s mother received support after their adoption;

(xxix) any letters, cards or other materials placed on the adoption file(s) by the relevant person’s mother;

(xxx) any letters, cards or other materials placed on the adoption file(s) by the relevant person’s father or other relatives;

(xxxi) any letters, cards or other materials placed on the adoption file(s) by the relevant person’s adoptive parents.”.

This is my only amendment in this grouping. It may have been dealt with in the Dáil, so I apologise if it has been. Instead of establishing a mechanism whereby adopted people’s GDPR rights to their personal data can be clearly met, this longer amendment is non-exhaustive and attempts to prevent personal data from being withheld. These categories of information are open to a range of different interpretations. Given data controllers' role in how access is handled, it is a certainty that much personal data could be held back.

I might ask the Minister to respond to the amendment, after which I will contribute again.