New legislation to allow adopted people access to their birth certificates
More than 50,000 adopted people will be given the right to see their birth certificates under new legislation to be published by the Government.
Many adoptees are currently unable to get this information - which includes the names of their birth parents - due to legal reasons and the parents’ right to privacy.
However, an adoption information register, which will allow both sides access, is to be set up under new legislation.
Cabinet approval to publish the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill was secured by Minister for Children Katherine Zappone.
According to a report in today’s Irish Times, parents will be able to declare a "no contact" preference.
If these cases, adoptees will be asked to sign a statutory declaration obliging them to respect those wishes.
