Kathleen Funchion calls for immediate access to adoptee birth certificates
Kathleen Funchion spoke in support of a bill to give people adopted in Ireland legal access to their birth certificates and urged the measure to be passed without further delay. She praised Deputies Connolly and Pringle for bringing the bill forward and reiterated that she and others fully support it.
Support for the bill
Kathleen Funchion commended Deputy Connolly and Deputy Pringle for bringing the bill and said she and others are fully supporting it. She noted she had introduced a similar bill in March and that the Government did not oppose that earlier measure.
Demand for immediate action
Funchion argued there is no reason to wait for further legislation and called for immediate legal entitlement to birth certificates for people adopted in Ireland. She said passing the measure now would demonstrate seriousness about righting past wrongs and restoring trust.
Human cost and mistrust
She highlighted the ongoing harm caused by secret and coercive adoption practices and referenced problems around the publication and access to the mother and baby home report. Funchion warned that delays mean more people will die without seeing justice or gaining access to vital information.
Children's Committee work
As chair of the Children's Committee she said legislation is being worked through and that the committee is hearing from many people. She welcomed that process but questioned why access to birth certificates could not be granted immediately.
Constituency experience and a positive note
Funchion closed by noting positive experiences constituents had recently with the SARS system and thanked the minister for that progress, while stressing that the right to access birth certificates must still be secured for adoptees.
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Thanks very much. First of all I want to commend Deputy Connolly and Deputy Pringle for bringing this forward and we are fully supporting it. It is a little bit of deja vu because we have had these discussions in this chamber and when we were in the Convention Centre quite a lot over the last year and a half, but I think it is, as Deputy Harkins said, important that we continue to have this debate until we actually get the situation resolved. I am always sort of surprised and people that you speak to who are not maybe as involved in this are always somewhat surprised when they hear that there are people who actually still do not have a legal entitlement to their birth certificate and it is something that so many of us take for granted and so many of us, it is the sort of document that you think every now and again where exactly have I left that, but you always know you can ring up and get a copy of it. It is something that we do take for granted, a lot of us anyway. Back in March we introduced a bill similar to this and in fairness the Government did not oppose that either, however we still are sort of in this situation where we do not have access to birth certificates for people who are adopted in Ireland. I do think and I know obviously I am the chair of the Children's Committee so I am well aware that there is legislation going through that committee and there is a number of members of that committee here this evening and we are working through that pre-ledge at the moment and I think it is important to say as well that it is important for us to hear from as many people as possible in relation to this which we are doing. I do welcome that legislation, however I do not see and I did not see back in March what the difficulty would be in passing legislation that would now give access to birth certificates and if there is other legislation that strengthens that, that is great but why cannot we do this now? I suppose it feels like we are always waiting for something and unfortunately for people who have been so let down by this state over the years, there is mistrust there, let us call that out. So it is difficult to convince people I suppose that the state is on their side in relation to this because they have been let down time and time again and I think Deputy Connolly gave a good analysis of that when you look at everything in relation to the report and the leaking of the report and then all of the stuff around people not actually maybe getting physical copies and people who are of a certain age group being directed online. There were so many different issues with it that it does seem like we are constantly failing people who have either been through the mother and baby system or who were adopted in this country and I think there is an obligation on all of us to respect the human rights of individuals to manage their own identity and family relationships without further state interference and this bill and the bill I introduced last March seeks to address this huge injustice. We cannot continue to condone the impact of the coercive closed and secret adoption system that was enabled and continues to be enabled by the state. If it is true this issue was again trusting to the public discourse again on the foot of the publication of the mother and baby home report but it is wider than just survivors of these inhumane institutions. It cuts to the nucleus of how little regard adoptees have been given in this country to date. Again, I just want to reiterate our support for the bill. We are working through that legislation and it is a positive but I do think that we can do this now and I think that if nothing else it would demonstrate that we actually are serious about this and we do want to finally see the right thing done by so many survivors. Even from the debates we had last October I know of women who have passed away who did not have access to information or did not even see the report being published. The longer this takes the more people unfortunately that are going to die without ever seeing justice. And I think a birth cert as I said at the start is something so many of us take for granted and I think it is something that we should ensure that there is access to. And just finally I do want to say it is a little bit of a different topic but I have dealt with the SARS system recently for a number of people in my constituency and that actually has been quite a positive experience for them. I know there is mixed views and everyone will have a different story. However, I do want to just put that on record and I want to say that we certainly have to criticise when we have to but we also have to give credit where it is due. I do want to say that as well while you are here, Minister, that has been positive for the people that I have been dealing with anyway. However, we still do need to see access to birth certs as a right. Thank you. Thank you very much.
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