I move amendment No. 71: In page 73, to delete lines 28 to 32 and substitute the following: “(a) by reference to the period during which it is estimated the relevant works or related activities, as the case may be, will be carried out,”.

I move amendment No. 72: In page 75, line 8, to delete “Subject to subsection (2) and (3) , a Director shall” and substitute “A Director shall”. On Committee Stage, I signalled my intention to bring forward an amendment on Report Stage to remove the provision exempting the director from carrying out remedial works on a site where the owner or occupier planned to carry out the works or where the land is subject to development. This amendment is on foot of engagement with the Department of Housing, Local Government a…

I move amendment No. 73: In page 75, to delete lines 13 to 27.

I move amendment No. 74: In page 75, line 29, to delete “the relevant planning authority” and substitute the following: “the planning authority (within the meaning of the Act of 2000) in whose administrative area the land in question is situate”.

I move amendment No. 75: In page 75, to delete lines 31 to 37.

I move amendment No. 76: In page 76, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following: “(3) A relevant Minister shall, for the purpose of section 99(5) , notify the Director concerned in writing of the dissolution day at least 6 months in advance of that day.”. Amendments Nos. 76, 77 and 78 are mine, while amendment No. 79 is from Deputies Funchion and Ward. This was an aspect we discussed in some detail on Committee Stage. As we know, a report will be coming from an agency set up under this legislation and will be…

I move amendment No. 77: In page 79, line 1, after “Minister,” to insert “at least 12 weeks”.

I move amendment No. 78: In page 79, to delete lines 12 to 14 and substitute the following: “(7) A relevant Minister shall, within 6 weeks of receipt of a report under subsection (5) , cause copies of that report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.”.

I thank the Senators for their amendments. I will speak to Nos. 1 and 2 first, then to Nos. 24 and 25. Amendment No. 1 seeks to include illegal adoption in the definition of "adoption". The insertion of these words is not necessary. In any case where an adoption order issued, a person is considered to be an adopted person and therefore a relevant person under the Bill. Amendment No. 2 proposes to include a person whose birth was illegally registered in the definition of "adoption". This is unnecessary as such a per…

I agree with the Government, Senator Higgins and all Senators on the need for full access to all information on vaccines, vaccine trials and medical trials. There is no disagreement on that and it is for that reason that I cannot accept these amendments. They are unnecessary because the legislation before us provides comprehensively for the full release of medical records to an applicant. I note that amendments Nos. 9 to 13 all seek to add the specific term "vaccine trials" into the definition of "medical informati…

At no stage would I seek to question the bona fides of any Senator here. Senator Higgins is making it look like I am wishing that this is what is going to happen, crossing my fingers and hoping. The clear reading of these provisions is that it includes all elements of vaccination, including vaccinations and vaccination trials. I accept that there is a difference between those things. A vaccination may have been a legitimate and existing vaccine at the time while a vaccination trial is something we would have deep c…

Amendment No. 5 seeks to ensure that, where a relevant person had visitors or inquiries made in relation to them, this information will be available to be released, including the name of the person and, where available, their relationship to the relevant person. This amendment comes on the back of intense engagement with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on this issue. It shows that I and my officials are willing to engage and make improvements to the legislation where it is necessary and legislatively possib…

I thank the Senators for their comments.

The definition of provided items is inclusive and seeks to ensure that a broad range of items can be shared with a relevant person, including items such as letters, mementos, presents or photographs. It is central to ensuring clarity and consistency in facilitating the release of these items. It is important to note that the definition is specific that it covers items left by a genetic relative or another person involved in the provision of care of the relevant person. I am confident, having spoken to those familia…

With respect to the monitoring of any potential blockages, the implementation group, comprising the Department, Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland, AAI, will be working to understand how the implementation is taking place. We also have the stakeholder reference group that is being brought together. It will include people who were adopted, parents and people who were the subjects of illegal birth registrations. That will be a group of people who will have a sense of the implementation of this legislation. T…

I am not in a position to accept these amendments, which seek to add to the list of secondary information sources provided for within the legislation, because I do not believe they are required. It is important to note the list of secondary information sources already includes a person prescribed under section 43(2). That is something that can be done through statutory instrument. There are also wider mechanisms within Part 7 which provide that even where a person is not designated as an information source, records…

I am not in a position to accept this amendment because it would introduce a broad and sweeping power to the Minister beyond the agreed policy intentions underpinning the Bill. When drafting this legislation, I wanted to ensure that it was as broad and encompassing as possible while ensuring that the definitions and parameters included in it were strong enough to be sound legislatively and would not inadvertently introduce sweeping powers. Section 5 reads: "The Minister may ... provide for the insertion in the Sche…

Amendment No. 32 seeks to ensure that in a scenario where a person has applied to a relevant body for birth, early life care, or medical information, and no records exist, as well as informing the applicant of this fact - which was provided for already under the legislation - the relevant body will also advise the applicant of the right to make an application through the contact preference register and to the tracing service. I am confident that, in a scenario where records do not exist, strong supports will be mad…

Amendments Nos. 29 to 31, inclusive, relate to the information session. Amendment No. 30 entirely removes or deletes it whereas amendments Nos. 29 and 31 seek to alter the mechanism. At this point we have debated this Bill for 30 hours across the two Houses and a very significant proportion of that time has been spent on discussing this issue. I recognise the very strong and deeply held views on this point. In terms of what I advocate, I must return to the points that I made in previous debates. Irish law has for t…

I will list and describe the various categories of such accommodation. There are seven State-owned accommodation centres in the interactional protection accommodation services, IPAS, portfolio. These buildings are owned by the State and companies are contracted as service providers at each of those centres. Commercial centres are privately owned and operated accommodation centres. EROCs refer to centres for refugees coming under the auspices of the international refugee protection programme, IRPP. When programme re…