Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 15, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

“6. An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall on an application made by a relevant person, a record of whose birth is kept by An tArd-Chláraitheoir and who has reached the age of 16 years, supply to that person on payment of the prescribed fee (if any) such information as is necessary to enable that person to obtain a certified copy of the record of his or her birth.”.

We propose a new section 6, that would replace sections 6 to 8, inclusive. The amendments would ensure that when an application is made to the Minister, the Minister would furnish a person with information as necessary to enable that person to obtain a certified copy of the record of his or her birth.

We are opposing section 7. It relates to restrictive timeframes. We believe it is arbitrary and contradictory. The Bill defines early life and care information as the information gathered from birth up until 18 years but section 2 states that a person's early life and care information only covers the period after the birth until the time that he or she was adopted. One might say that early life and care information will not be available on files from the time that the child is adopted but we believe this is not the case. Records were created long after adoption. The same points would apply to section 8.