Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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176. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade given that his Department remains the data holder for passports issued as part of the Ireland-US adoption scheme from the late 1940s through the 1970s, the efforts made by his Department to reach out to and contact families that adopted Irish children as part of the scheme and inform them of the Government's mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13500/25]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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177. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade given that the Department of Foreign Affairs remains the data holder for passports issued as part of the Ireland-US adoption scheme from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, the efforts made by his Department to reach out to and contact US Catholic charities in each diocese where children were adopted, and to seek their assistance in disseminating information about the payment scheme for impacted families in their area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13501/25]

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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178. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade for updated figures on the number of Irish Passports provided for children travelling out of the State jurisdiction for adoption in a different jurisdiction since 1946; the updated list of countries where these children were travelling to for adoption; the number of children travelling to each country for adoption; the efforts to inform these families of potential entitlements under the mother and baby institutions payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13502/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 to 178, inclusive, together.

The Department of Foreign Affairs holds a number of files relating to historic adoptions involving Irish children, which are currently housed at the National Archives of Ireland under a previous agreement to ensure their long-term preservation. These files are restricted from public access and can solely be retrieved by a Department official at the request of Tusla or the Adoption Authority of Ireland under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022.

While in some cases these files may contain records of interest for the individuals involved, they do not form a comprehensive overview of passport or travel-related documentation for children who left the State for adoption in another jurisdiction.

Under passport record management and retention rules, all paper applications and associated documents received by the Passport Service and Missions abroad have a data retention period of 13 months. It would therefore not be possible to provide the data requested on the number or destination of Irish children travelling out of the State for adoption in a different jurisdiction.

With regard to the question of using passport-related personal data to reach out to individuals who were adopted, the Department of Foreign Affairs is obligated to balance the right to identity, and associated entitlements, with the right to privacy in a fair and compassionate way. Working closely with the Department of Children, Equality, Integration and Youth, the Department’s outreach has therefore focused on the extensive promotion of the Mother-and-Baby Institutions Payment Scheme.

Our Embassies and Consulates promoted the scheme through their social media channels and shared the information with their network of community, cultural, sporting and other partner organisations, many of which are funded under the Government’s Emigrant Support Programme.

In order to ensure those living abroad without online access could engage with the scheme, hard copy information booklets and application packs were also sent to all of our Embassies and Consulates. An information note on the opening of the scheme was placed on the websites of Embassies and Consulates.

With regard to passport entitlement, the Department is conscious of the fact that adoption can be a complex and sensitive area for some passport applicants who may be entitled to Irish citizenship due to the circumstances of their birth. The Passport Service endeavours to ensure that such applications are treated with due consideration and sensitivity.