Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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539. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of meetings he has had with Tusla concerning the birth information and tracing Bill 2022 since taking office. [11106/22]

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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540. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of meetings he has had with the Adoption Authority of Ireland concerning the birth information and tracing Bill 2022 since taking office. [11107/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 539 and 540 together.

In June 2021, I established the Birth Information and Tracing Implementation Group. This group is led by my Department, and includes representatives from the Adoption Authority of Ireland and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. The group meets on a regular basis, having held 8 meetings to date, whilst also progressing key pieces of work and liaising bilaterally between meetings.

The Group's focus is on organisational and system readiness to support the provision of services under the proposed Birth Information and Tracing legislation. Included in the Group's work is the development of draft policy guidelines to support robust and consistent implementation of the legislation.

In addition to the Implementation Group, the Department also engages with both the Adoption Authority and Tusla through regular governance and oversight meetings, where matters relating to the Birth Information and Tracing Bill are often discussed.  

Officials in my Department have strong working relationships with their counterparts in the Authority and Tusla.  This is central to the positive commitment and collaboration which is essential to successful implementation of the legislation in the interests of all those with questions on their origins.

As Minister, I have met with the Chair of the Adoption Authority of Ireland on three occasions. These meetings have all included discussion of information and tracing. I meet with Tusla on a quarterly basis. Four of these meetings have taken place since July 2020. Issues relating to information and tracing legislation are discussed at these meetings as required.

Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats)
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541. To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth the number of meetings he has had with the Mother and Baby Home Collaborative Forum since taking office; the dates of those meetings; the main outcome of the meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11108/22]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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As outlined in the published Action Plan for Survivors and Former Residents of Mother and Baby and County Home Institutions, we are transitioning towards new enhanced arrangements for consultation and stakeholder engagement. This development is essential in facilitating an inclusive survivor-centred approach to the important work being advanced across Government. Additional dedicated structures and resources will be introduced to support effective and sustainable stakeholder engagement and I will be bringing detailed proposals to Government in this regard. I have advised Collaborative Forum members of my intention to meet with them again this month in advance of introducing new structures.

Since my appointment, I have personally engaged with many survivors and their advocacy groups, including members of the Collaborative Forum. My Department has supported facilitated consultations in progressing the wide-ranging actions approved by Government in responding to the findings of the Commission. I am committed to ongoing engagement with survivors and their advocates in the context of this important work.

I hosted two virtual meetings with Collaborative Forum members in February 2021 to share developments in the State’s response to the Commission’s report and to engage on matters of concern to members. The proposed new structure to support wider stakeholder engagement was also a specific agenda item. Further discussions on this issue were independently facilitated with Forum members and the Forum’s feedback has assisted in refining the initial proposals.

Separately, Collaborative Forum members have individually and collectively contributed to survivor focused consultations around specific initiatives, including the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Institutional Burials Bill and the Birth Information and Tracing Bill. In addition, the Forum had a dedicated session as part of the consultations with survivors on the Payments Scheme and Forum members are actively involved on the steering group for the NUIG research project examining language, terminology and representation.