Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This grouping of amendments seeks to ensure that illegal birth registrations are specified in the Bill along with incorrect birth registrations. Currently, the Bill only applies to people whose births were illegally registered before 31 December 1980. It is a deeply flawed decision to insert a date limit, as there is no evidence to suggest that illegal registrations ceased on 31 December 1980. Any person illegally adopted outside this date limit might not be able to access his or her rights under the Bill. The Bill should be amended to ensure that all affected persons subject to illegal birth registrations are included. This has to do with the core principle that, if we are trying to move forward and make redress, we need to ensure that we are not piecemeal in our approach and that all relevant adopted persons are able to access their rights under the legislation, including those who were adopted overseas and those who were illegally adopted or whose adoptions involved illegal birth registrations after 1980.