Dr Ryan Drafts Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014

Monday, November 10, 2014 - 00:00

An adoption bill drafted by Dr Fergus Ryan of Maynooth University Department of Law was launched Monday, 3 November 2014 in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Adoption (Identity and Information) Bill 2014 has been spearheaded by Senator Averil Power (who is herself an adopted person), and is co-sponsored by Senator Jillian Van Turnhout (former CEO of the Children’s Rights Alliance) and Senator Fidelma Healy Eames (who is also an adoptive mother). According to Dr Ryan, “This legislation establishes a structured and supportive process whereby adoptees and their natural parents may obtain information about each other, subject to various safeguards. It vindicates the adoptee’s right to an identity while also respecting the mother’s right to privacy, achieving a balancing of rights as required by the Supreme Court in I'OT v B.” The Bill is due to be debated in the Seanad in the coming weeks.
 
The initiative has been fairly widely covered in the media and Dr Ryan has been mentioned and quoted in both The Irish Times and Irish Examiner, and also on RTÉ Lunchtime news:

The Irish Times:  http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/new-law-would-give-adopted-right-to-birth-cert-1.1986750
 
The Irish Examiner: http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/adopted-people-to-get-birth-cert-right-in-new-law-296160.html

RTÉ Lunchtime news: http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1103/656578-adoption-rights/