Adoption groups are broadly welcoming Government plans for new adoption legislation.
The Coalition has published the laws this afternoon giving access to adoption and other tracing information held by state agencies.
Diagram outlining adoption legislation. pic.twitter.com/7hMBdume6z
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Minister James Reilly says the issue of privacy has been overcome because a person is entitled to their birth records because it defines their identity.
The Children's Minister says he hopes to have the new adoption legislation in place before the general election.
He says the quality of information on each adoptee varies:
Paul Redmond from the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors - an umbrella group representing adoptees - says today is a very good day for the adoption community:
Commenting on the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015, Tánaiste Joan Burton said, "as an adopted person myself who discovered the true identity of my parents only after an exhaustive and deeply emotional search in the late 1990s, by which time they were dead, I always thought that this was grievously wrong.
"This legislation, when enacted, will fulfill the Programme for Government commitment to reform the law on adoption. Crucially, it will enable a person aged 18 or over adopted before the enactment of this legislation to obtain his or her birth certificate," she added.
Senator Averil Power welcomed the publication of the bill, but said there are concerns that need to be addressed.
"The current proposals provide that an adoptee may be refused their birth certificate where ‘compelling reasons’ exist. I agree a natural parent’s current contact details should only be released with their consent. However, I do not accept there are any situations in which an adopted person should be refused access to the basic information in their birth certificate," Senator Power said.
She also raised concerns that adoptees would only be able to access their birth certificates after signing a statutory declaration agreeing to respect their parents’ wishes regarding contact.
