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Minister Roderic O'Gorman (file photo) Alamy Stock Photo

Adopted people will no longer have to attend mandatory information session when seeking records

The long-awaited Birth Information and Tracing Bill will be published today.

ADOPTED PEOPLE SEEKING documents about their birth and early life will no longer have to attend an in-person meeting if one or both of their birth parents has registered a no-contact preference.

The Birth Information and Tracing Bill – legislation that aims to enshrine in law a right for adopted people to access their birth certificates and early life information – is set to be published today.

Under a previous iteration of the Bill, adopted people seeking records would have been required to attend a mandatory information session with a social worker if the person’s biological mother or father had opted to not be contacted.

This element of the draft legislation was sharply criticised by adoption campaigners when the Heads of Bill were published last May.

The Journal has confirmed that instead of an in-person meeting, an adopted person will be informed of a parent’s no-contact preference via a phone call.

Other changes to the draft Bill include that information available for adopted people will be expanded to include baptism certs, and the term ‘birth mother’ has been changed to ‘mother’ in the text after some campaigners labelled this former term reductive and insulting.

A spokesperson for the Department of Children said the legislation “will create a clear and full right for adopted people to access their birth information”.

The Bill will be launched by Children’s Minister Roderic O’Gorman later this morning, the first anniversary of the publication of the final report by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.

Launching the Heads of Bill in May 2021, O’Gorman described the legislation as “groundbreaking”. Under current legislation, adopted people are not entitled to their birth certificate or to information about their families of origin.

Following the publication of the Commission’s final report on 12 January 2021, the Government published an action plan of how it would respond including this particular legislation.

On 14 December, the Oireachtas Children’s Committee launched its report on the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill.

The committee made 83 recommendations, including the removal of the mandatory information session for people seeking their documents, and enhanced rights to files and information for mothers.

Many adopted people and campaigners welcomed these recommendations, having criticised certain elements of the original Bill.

A spokesperson for the Department of Children previously noted that the purpose of the legislation is “to recognise the importance of a person knowing their origins, and to achieve this through the full release of the birth certificate, birth information, early life information, care information and medical information for all persons who were adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration or who otherwise have questions in relation to their origins”.

The Bill will be debated in the Oireachtas in the coming months before a vote.

Information vs privacy

Under the new law, even if a biological parent says they don’t want their child to get their birth cert or related information, the adopted person will still get access – a huge shift in the right to information versus right to privacy debate.

In a similar manner to Subject Access Requests under GDPR, people will be able to apply to the Adoption Authority, Tusla or any designated relevant body that may hold information about them.

In the case of early life and care information, it is expected that the information will be automatically provided on receipt of an application from the adopted person. In terms of medical information, a person will automatically be provided with any medical information which relates to themselves.

Information relating to a birth relative which is relevant to the medical history or health of the applicant, and is necessary for reasons of “substantial public interest”, is expected to be released to the person’s nominated medical practitioner.

In these circumstances, the information “shall not identify the birth parent or relative but only the fact of the medical condition/health issue being something which arises in the applicant’s birth family”.

In a letter to survivors and relatives in mid-December, O’Gorman wrote: “I appreciate the intensive work of the committee on this deeply important legislation and am very grateful to all those who contributed to the process. I have followed the process closely and will now carefully consider the committee’s report and its recommendations.

“The completion of the pre-legislative scrutiny process allows me to move forward with the legislation. To this end, I plan to publish the Birth Information and Tracing Bill in mid-January.”

O’Gorman said he wants this legislation – and the Burials Bill, which would pave the way for the sites of former mother and baby homes to be excavated – to be implemented as soon as possible this year.

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    Mute Philip Nolan
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:34 PM

    As a very frequent traveller, I have used the scanners in US airports and could care less to be honest. I’ve seen people more exposed in their photo albums on Facebook. The queues for the scanners are much quicker than the standard queues, the person instructing you how to stand can’t see the scan anyway (the images are monitored remotely) and it’s not like they’re going to discuss your naked form with anyone you know! In Schipol recently, I was subjected to a pat-down that would have been classed as a sexual assault in the real world and I was livid about it. I’d rather have been offered the option of the scanner.

    43
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    Mute Bertie SirCastic
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:28 PM

    Guy in the xray could do with a Steak sandwich or two!

    40
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    Mute Robert LYNCH
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    Aug 31st 2011, 11:48 AM

    Great…NOT!!!… Dublin yet again are going to follow the example of London Airports it would seem… I personal have a problem with the level of intrusion and the general feeling of being treated like dirt that flying by plane has become. I am flying via London in a couple of weeks, but since I have now found out that this full-body scan is now mandatory there, I will no longer fly in our out of London unless it is my destination. As for the effectiveness of these scanners (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner), I have serious doubts in general that any of this treatment like cattle is improving anyone’s safety.

    38
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    Mute Gain & Sustain
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:28 PM

    Clearly you have something to hide, I think this system is great

    46
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    Mute stephen corrigan
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:47 PM

    1 question, bomb or scan?? Even drugs can be found so whats the problem.

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    Mute Robert LYNCH
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:51 PM

    Maybe I do. However what I have to hide is not going to bring down a plane, e.g. prosthetics including breast prostheses, and other medical equipment normally hidden, such as colostomy bags are all things that someone may not want the people around him/her to be aware of. I am sure you can think of a whole range of other things that are the private business of individuals and of no concern to airport authorities. However all these things will be viewed and displayed by this machine with little if in any improvement to airport security.

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    Mute Terry Connolly
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:30 PM

    love the belly button!

    30
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    Mute EM
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:47 PM

    If the image is as per the picture above then i’d have no issue with this tbh as it’s not particularly invasive.

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    Mute Denzer
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    Aug 31st 2011, 1:33 PM

    Id be more concerned with the potential radiation effects. Had a quick look through the literature… There is Very little peer reviewed information supporting it as non genotoxic- as claimed by manufacturers. May not be a concern for those who take a couple of flights a year but there could be legitimate concerns from frequent flyers with prolonged exposure to the technology.

    20
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    Mute starflyergold
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:08 PM

    Germany trialled these in Hamburg and the machines produced an staggering failure rate. 61% of pax passed through without a problem, 31% had to be padded down (hard). In 54% of cases a false alarm was recorded. Result: significant delays in processing passengers.

    20
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    Mute Maura Murphy
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    Sep 1st 2011, 1:25 PM

    Germany has abandoned plans to use scanners at its airports and will not reconsider until the technology is more reliable and meets “high security standards,” interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said Wednesday

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    Mute Aidan M
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    Aug 31st 2011, 12:02 PM

    Stupid.

    18
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    Mute Niall Carson
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    Aug 31st 2011, 5:06 PM

    What bunch of sheeple we have become. These are dangerous microwaves. Seriously read into this a bit more. There have been many problems with this in America. Not least the TSA agent who shot his colleagues because they made jokes about the size of his penis after a training scan.

    15
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    Mute bob_mac_E
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    Aug 31st 2011, 1:55 PM

    Are xray machines not cancerous? Do the guards hide behind lead walls like a nurse at the hospital?

    15
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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:06 PM

    @Bob – When I spoke to DAA earlier they were keen to stress that they’re not “x-ray machines”, in that their intensity is much lesser than a standard booth.

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    Mute Fred FedUp
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:09 PM

    Yep, they are cancerous…No, guards not behind lead walls, just eating up the radiation like it’s good for them and getting cancer..From Chicago, TSA heads now have cancer from operating these type of machines.. http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/30/did-airport-scanners-give-boston-tsa-agents-cancer/ So, we’ve option A – groping and pat downs to make sure we’re not “dangerous” or option B – an invasive scan that will shower you in radiation..Just great…This is 1984 people…

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Aug 31st 2011, 2:24 PM

    @Fred (and Bob): The machines that TIME article refers to are a different type of ‘booth’-style scanner than is being considered in Dublin.

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    Mute gareth byrne
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    Aug 31st 2011, 6:38 PM

    Jesus.These scanners are on TRAIL for 18 months in staff areas.Not been used in public areas.Which mean they are not coming in at dap untill ALL tests are carried out.What does it take for people to cop on.These are the times we live in.get used to it.

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    Mute Paddy O'Reilly
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    Aug 31st 2011, 9:13 PM

    Looks like milimeter wave scanners only penetrate the clothes and are stopped by skin. So why not just tape a load of contraband to your leg, then wrap it in pigskin (the most common human analog from Mythbusters). Sorted.

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    Mute Oil Foster
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    Aug 31st 2011, 8:14 PM

    Thank god for the Internet, giving people totally accurate and factual information.

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    Mute Bertie SirCastic
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    Aug 31st 2011, 3:09 PM

    Would be hilarious seeing Hugh Hefner pass through one off these the morning after…

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    Mute Patrick Halpin
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    Sep 2nd 2011, 7:45 AM

    Hh

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