Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour)
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197. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason behind the extraordinary delays that his department is encountering in the preparation of adoption tracing and information legislation; the number of officials dedicated to the drafting of such legislation; the number of hours per year that have been spent on the drafting of this legislation during the years 2011 to 2014 and to date in 2015; his views on the reason preliminary legislation that he is proposing to take to Committee Stage, where it may be fundamentally amended in any event, is taking so long to draft; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24475/15]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As I have stated on a number of occasions complex legal and constitutional issues arise in the drafting of the Adoption Information and Tracing Bill. A particular challenge has arisen in the attempt to reconcile an adopted person’s request for information about his or her identity with the right to privacy of his or her birth parent. My Department has had on going consultation with the Office of the Attorney General on this and on a number of related issues. I am proposing as progressive an approach as is possible within the significant legal and operational complexities which arise in giving effect to this objective. I continue to explore how far the Government can go in building into legislation that right of the adopted person to get access to information without breaching the Constitution and due to the ongoing discussions, the Heads of Bill have not yet been finalised.

It is my intention to have the General Scheme and Heads of Bill finalised as soon as possible and submitted for the consideration of Government, in advance of referral to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children. This will be the subject of consultation with all relevant Government Departments in advance.