Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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244. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will ensure that information sources holding records pertaining to illegal adoptions, particularly instances in which no adoption order exists, will be compelled under the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 to transfer their records to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. [9133/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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252. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will ensure that information sources holding records pertaining to illegal adoptions, particularly instances in which no adoption order exists, will be compelled under the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 to transfer their records to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. [9161/17]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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260. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will ensure that information sources holding records pertaining to illegal adoptions, particularly instances where no adoption order exists, will be compelled under the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 to transfer their records to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. [9265/17]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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288. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will ensure that information sources holding records pertaining to illegal adoptions, particularly instances in which no adoption order exists, will be compelled under the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016 to transfer their records to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. [9063/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 244, 252, 260 and 288 together.

Adoption records are currently held by the Adoption Authority of Ireland, Tusla and agencies accredited under the Adoption Act 2010. Under the proposed legislation, the Authority will have overall responsibility for the safeguarding of all adoption records, including information relating to informal adoptions and persons whose birth was incorrectly registered. All adoption records, which are currently held in a number of locations, are to be transferred to the custody of the Authority. The Bill provides that the records are to be indexed and a searchable electronic database of the records is to be created. The Authority is to ensure that all adoption records are to be kept in a suitable and secure location. The Bill also provides the Authority with wide ranging powers to collect records including those related to incorrect birth registrations.

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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245. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the plans in place to reach out to the more than 2,000 people who were sent from Ireland to America for adoption from the 1940s to the 1970s. [9134/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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253. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the plans in place to reach out to the more than 2,000 people who were sent from Ireland to America for adoption from the 1940s to the 1970s. [9162/17]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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261. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the plans in place to reach out to the 2,000 plus people who were sent from Ireland to America for adoption from the 1940s to the 1970s. [9266/17]

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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289. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to reach out to the more than 2,000 people who were sent from Ireland to America for adoption from the 1940s to the 1970s. [9064/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 245, 253, 261 and 289 together.

The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill was published on 25th November 2016 and it provides a statutory basis for the provision of information related to both past and future adoptions. The Bill is intended to facilitate access to adoption information and operates on the basis of a presumption in favour of disclosing information in so far as is legally and constitutionally possible. It provides clarity around the information that can be provided and the circumstances in which it can be provided to those affected by adoption. The definition of adopted person in the Bill was drafted so as to ensure service provision in all historic adoptions where a child was placed and brought up outside the State primarily in the USA.

There will be an information campaign for six months following commencement of the Act to publicise the provisions of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. Tusla will liaise with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to identify the methods of maximising contact with persons outside of the State affected by Irish adoptions through media outlets, social media and other appropriate methods.