Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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25. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the undeniable evidence, in writing, that religious run adoption agencies participated in and facilitated illegal adoptions, the reason neither her Department nor the Adoption Authority of Ireland have not carried out an audit of every adoption record held in the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6523/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to take this opportunity to advise the House of the historic position regarding adoption in Ireland. 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.

I have been anxious to see improvements in existing procedures for the tracing of birth parents by people who have been adopted. The Child and Family Agency, which was established on 1st January last, has advised me that, in the first instance, any person seeking information on adoption 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. I have been advised by the Agency that it is reorganising adoption services in 2014 at a national level, and will consider how best to deploy its staff to deal with this important issue so as to facilitate access to records where they exist.

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. In the case of the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, for example, some 25,000 records have been transferred to the Agency's Regional Adoption Service in Cork. 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. I have raised the importance of arrangements for the management of these records directly with the Child and Family Agency and I have also asked my officials to examine the work that could be undertaken with the Child and Family Agency, the Adoption Authority and other stakeholders to improve arrangements for managing and accessing the records that are available.

I have highlighted previously in the house the Constitutional and legal barriers to providing access to Adoption records without the consent of the birth mother. The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill will address this matter but the legislature will be constrained in the nature of any access which can be granted to adoption records by these legal considerations. In this context, I would urge birth mothers to enrol on the National Adoption Contact Preference Register 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. I believe there is an opportunity in the context of the considerable public attention this area is receiving to promote awareness amongst women whose children were adopted of the importance of registering their consent if contact is to be successfully re-established.