Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The concern is with respect to the release of information about a child who has died. With respect to the parent of that child, there is personal information and shared identify information in terms of the release of the information about the child. That is why the parent is first in the hierarchy in the release of that information. If the parent is deceased, it is open to a sibling to apply for that information. If the parent is alive and wishes to receive the information, the parent can receive the information and can, if he or she so chooses, disseminate it within the family. While the parent is alive, he or she has an ability under this provision not to seek the release of that information but it is not a permanent barrier. It ends when the parent is deceased.