Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the committee we spoke at length about this section and the fact that the information session was going to be mandatory. In a perfect world none of this would be necessary and we would not have to work within the realms of our awful history. I would agree with Senator Seery Kearney about registered letters. In the opinion of most lay people, a registered letter makes common sense. Unfortunately, I cannot slot myself into the Attorney General's brain to see why this had to be mandatory and why a registered letter was not sufficient.

I want to raise an issue related to that phone call or that contact, that is, the legacy of previous trauma that has been inflicted on people by contact from those organisations. Getting another phone call setting out the state of the law could be retraumatising for an individual who has been through the wringer already. That is my big fear. A call from Tusla or one of the other organisations could be retraumatising and we need to make sure those organisations are given every possible instruction on empathy when they make those mandatory phone calls. I have also heard from women who are very comforted by the mandatory information session. When we speak here, we are representing both sides. I have heard from birth mothers who look at the mandatory information session and see it as a comfort blanket, for want of a better description.

I am concerned about retraumatising people and about trust in the organisations. In a perfect world we would not need this but, unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. We have this legacy of an absolutely desperate history but we must balance that against privacy in the Act. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response.