Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

808. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans to address the issue of the more than 2,000 persons that were exported from Ireland to America for adoption from the 1940s to the 1970s; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9659/17]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill was published on 25 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.