Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Martin Kenny TD, has expressed his concern at the significant delays facing people who were adopted when attempting to access their personal birth data and early years files. 

Teachta Kenny said:

“Last week there was a bill before the Dáil and it highlighted, yet again, the vacuum of information that is faced by some people who were adopted, or born in Mother and Baby Homes”.

“It’s fine for the Minister to say he and the government won’t oppose it, but the reality is that we need them to put their full weight behind a bill like this. Sinn Féin also tabled a bill last April to give adopted people a right to their information, but the government has not acted on that either. Time is running out.

“Yes, the commission of investigation into Mother and Baby Homes brought a much needed spotlight on the horrors women and children went through in those horrific institutions, but unfortunately it hasn’t changed the issues faced by these people when it comes to accessing their information. 

“These ordinary, decent, hardworking people are now entering their twilight years. Yet, they still have no resolution to the very basic question of ‘what is my background, where do I come from?” 

“I understand that the government say there is a very comprehensive bill in the works to correct this, but how much longer can we leave these people waiting?

“Many people simply cannot wait any longer. State institutions continue to block their simple human right to knowledge of their background to this very day, and it needs to be dealt with now. It should not be done at some time in the future because some people simply don’t have that time on their side now.”