Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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264. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when adoption records from the Protestant adoption board will be available. [47300/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I believe the Deputy is in fact referring to the Pact, formally known as the Protestant Adoption Society.

Here2Help currently holds the records for adopted persons, birth parents and relatives of those placed by the Protestant Adoption Society or Pact. Here2Help is also currently accredited by the Adoption Authority of Ireland under section 4 of the Adoption Act 2010 to provide information and tracing services to these people.

These records are covered under the relevant provisions of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2016. The Bill will create for the first time a statutory right for adopted persons to birth certificate information as well as other types of information. It will also provide for the transfer of relevant records to the custody of the Adoption Authority of Ireland.