Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Independent)
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554. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding adoptions; if she will consider bringing forward legislation to deal with this matter; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6619/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Adoption Act 1952 placed adoption on a regulatory footing in Ireland and all adoptions that have taken place since then should, in accordance with the law, have been in compliance with that Act. I am advised by the Adoption Authority of Ireland that 44,042 adoptions took place in Ireland between 1953 and 2012. While records exist in relation these adoptions these records may not be as expansive as current day practices would envisage.

I am also aware that some of the arrangements which were put in place were not within the provisions of the adoption legislation leaving people assuming they were adopted, when they in fact were not, or that their births were the subject of illegal registrations. Information in regard to illegal registrations is scant as these placements were by their nature shrouded in secrecy.

Existing procedures for the tracing of birth parents by people who have been adopted are not ideal and I have been anxious to see improvement brought about. The Information and Tracing Service of Tusla – the Child and Family Agency recognises the importance attached to this area of service provision and is working to provide a more streamlined services and to ensure that enquiries in regard to information and tracing are handled as quickly as possible. The Agency has advised me that, in the first instance, any person seeking information on adoption, or an illegal registration of a birth, should contact the Adoption Authority of Ireland or the Agency’s Community Services who will assist in directing them to the personnel dealing with their particular records. The existing arrangements for those seeking access to information reflect a transition from complex and historical situations and I am anxious that the Agency implement much more improved and consistent arrangements.

The Agency provides an Information and Tracing Service throughout the country to birth mothers, adopted persons and their families. The Adoption Act 2010, requirement that agencies providing Information and Tracing services would gain accreditation resulted in a number of religious orders deciding not to apply for accreditation and transferring records from their Mother and Baby Homes and Adoption Societies to the Agency. Approximately 25,000 records have been transferred to the Agency’s Regional Adoption Service in Cork, from the Sacred Heart Adoption Society. Work by the Agency on the organising and storage of these records has taken place. The advice of the National Archives has been sought in relation to the proper storage of these records that are of great significance. The Agency has also received records from other agencies. A comprehensive list of the locations of the records relating to the various adoption societies and Mother and Baby homes is available on the Agency website. I would urge birth mothers to enrol on the National Adoption Contact Preference Register (NACPR), which was established in 2005 to assist adopted people and their natural families to make contact with each other, exchange information or state their contact preferences. They decide, through a range of information and contact options, how they wish to proceed. The Adoption Authority of Ireland has responsibility for the operation of the Contact Preference Register.

My Department is continuing to work on the Heads of Bill for the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill and I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval to publish the Heads of Bill as soon as possible.