PRESS RELEASE: 11 October 2022

Press release: 11th October 2022

MORE THAN 1,200 PEOPLE APPLY TO ADOPTION AUTHORITY FOR BIRTH INFORMATION IN FIRST WEEK AFTER NEW SERVICES LAUNCHED

- 1,288 applications from Ireland and around the world

- Country and county breakdown of applicants

- Birth information and tracing services began on October 3

More than 1,200 people have made an application to the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) for their birth information since the launch of services under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 one week ago.

Of 1,288 applications made to the AAI from October 3rd to October 10th, there were 1,176 from people living in Ireland, 48 from the UK, 28 from the USA, and others from countries including Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, France, and Canada. Thirteen of the UK applications were made by people living in Northern Ireland.

In Ireland, the largest number of applications came from Dublin (419), followed by Cork (162), Kildare (53), and Meath (52). The county with the fewest applications was Leitrim (6). (NB: Please see appendix with breakdown of applicants by county).

The Birth Information and Tracing Act provides a full and clear right of access to birth certificates, birth, early life, care, and medical information for any person who was adopted, boarded out, had their birth illegally registered, or who otherwise has questions in relation to their origins. Additionally, it allows for access to information by a child of a relevant person where their parent has died, and for access by the next of kin of a child who died in an institution.

The new law also creates a statutory tracing service for those affected by adoption who are seeking contact with birth relatives. Services under the Birth Information and Tracing Act are provided free of charge by the AAI and Tusla. People affected by the legislation are urged to make an application on the dedicated website www.birthinfo.ie.

Adoption Authority CEO Patricia Carey said: “There has been an incredible response to the launch of birth information and tracing services – with more than 1,200 people applying to the Adoption Authority in the first week, and many others also applying to our colleagues in Tusla.

“People who were adopted, boarded out or had their birth information illegally registered in Ireland have waited a very long time for this legislation, and trained staff in the Adoption Authority are working through all the applications we receive as quickly and professionally as possible to ensure that every applicant receives any information about their birth and earlier years that we hold.”

Applications for birth information and tracing services can be made online at www.birthinfo.ie.

– Ends –

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Craig McKechnie | craig@4tc.ie | +353 (0)87 621 8839

Richard Burke | richard@4tc.ie | +353 (0) 86 816 7822

Applications for birth information to AAI (8am Oct 3rd to 11.30am October 10th)

Birth Information – Global

AUSTRALIA: 13
CYPRUS: 1

FRANCE: 2

GERMANY: 6

IRELAND: 1176

NO ADDRESS: 1

SPAIN: 1

THE NETHERLANDS: 4

GREAT BRITAIN (UK): 35

UNITED STATES: 28

NORTHERN IRELAND (UK): 13

CANADA: 2

POLAND: 1

AUSTRIA: 1

NEW ZEALAND: 1

JAMACIA: 1

HONG KONG (SAR): 1

NORWAY: 1

Grand Total: 1288

Birth Information - United Kingdom

GREAT BRITAIN - 35

ENGLAND - 32

WALES - 2

SCOTLAND - 1

NORTHERN IRELAND - 13

DERRY - 7

DOWN - 2

FERMANAGH - 2

TYRONE - 1

ANTRIM - 1

Birth Information – ROI County

IRELAND - 1176

CARLOW - 15

CAVAN - 8

CLARE - 23

CORK - 162

DONEGAL - 21

DUBLIN - 419

GALWAY - 41

KERRY - 34

KILDARE - 53

KILKENNY - 14

LAOIS - 20

LEITRIM - 6

LIMERICK - 35

LONGFORD - 9

LOUTH - 32

MAYO - 26

MEATH - 52

MONAGHAN - 11

OFFALY - 12

ROSCOMMON - 13

SLIGO - 18

TIPPERARY - 25

WATERFORD - 21

WESTMEATH - 20

WEXFORD - 35

WICKLOW - 51

About the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2002

The Birth Information and Tracing Act, 2022 ensures, for the first time, that ‘a relevant person’ (adopted person, person who was, or suspects they were, boarded out, nursed out or resident in a Mother and Baby Home or County Home, and persons whose birth was illegally registered, or they suspect their birth was illegally registered) can now apply for their birth certificate, birth, early life, care, and medical information. Any items left for the relevant person such as letters, photographs and mementoes can also be applied for.

This means that adopted people and others will be able to have records that show their name at birth, birthplace, and date, as well as their parents’ names, dates of birth and other details. Any records related to their health including details of vaccinations will also be provided.

People affected by the issues under the legislation are invited to register their contact preference or complete a new application to update an existing contact preference, on the new Contact Preference Register. When an application for information is received, only preferences recorded on the register at that point in time can be released with the associated information The tracing service can be used by relevant persons – parents, adoptive parents, birth relatives, other genetic relatives, or those who were carers in relation to a relevant person – to enable contact or the sharing or requesting of contemporaneous information.

Where the relevant person has died, their son or daughter will have the same right to information that relates to their parent, if the relevant person’s parents (i.e. the applicant’s grandparents) are also deceased. A next of kin can also apply for access if the relevant person died while resident as a child in a Mother and Baby or County Home Institution.

In cases where a mother chooses to have no contact, this will not prevent her identity from being shared, but her right and wish not to be contacted will be communicated.

In cases where a mother chooses to have no contact, this will not stop adopted persons meeting or engaging with other family members, such as siblings or half siblings.

A preference for no contact only gives the Authority the remit to communicate the preference and inform relevant persons of their parents wish for privacy. It does not prohibit other actions under the Act.

ADOPTION AUTHORITY OF IRELAND

The Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) is the central authority for adoption in Ireland. Established under the Adoption Act 2010, the Authority operates as an independent body under the aegis of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY). The Authority’s functions include those of an operational, judicial, and quasi-judicial nature in relation to the adoption process as provided for under the Act, but also relating to the Authority’s designation as the Central Authority for the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of lntercountry Adoption. In addition, the Authority has registration and regulatory functions for all adoption related matters in Ireland.