A meeting was held in Dáil Éireann yesterday, during which the general scheme and heads of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill were published.
Under this new legislation, it is reported that up to 50,000 adopted people will be granted a legal right to information about their birth parents for the very first time. The Act will also extend to those who were the subject of ‘informal’ or illegal adoptions, or who were wrongfully registered.
This new legislation aims to offer a new avenue for adopted people, who were previously blocked from finding out certain information due to a constitutional privacy provision on the part of the birth parent.
In order to avail of this latest piece of legislation, it is reported that adopted people will have to sign a statutory declaration obliging them to respect the wishes of the birth parent, where that parent has stated that they do not want to be contacted.
Commenting ahead of the passing of the Bill, Minister for Children Dr James Reilly described it as “a major breakthrough”.
