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

I disagree with Senator Gavan. I believe I have answered the question both yesterday and last week in respect of the distinction we have made concerning the multifaceted nature of the Government's response to those who were in mother and baby institutions. We recognise that different survivors have different priorities in the context of access to information, the treatment of remains, financial payments, the provision of medical cards, a wider commemoration and memorialisation of what happened in these institutions and the many other provisions contained in the Government's action plan recognising the diverse needs of survivors.

Specifically, regarding my engagement with survivors, particularly those who spend shorter periods in institutions and those survivors who would have been former residents and adoptees who were in these institutions in the 1980s and 1990s, the prime desire and need for many of them was access to information. They wanted to gain access to their birth certificates and to the maiden names of their mothers and the names of their fathers. This access was denied to them until last year when we brought forward the Birth Information and Tracing Act. We have been able to provide information to 4,600 people in this situation and we are processing a further 3,500 applications now. We have, therefore, brought forward a multifaceted response, recognising that not every survivor and not every former resident is pleased with the scope of this endeavour. It must be understood, however, as a range of responses rather than just one response in one Bill.