Adoption

The Adoption Policy Unit develops policies and legislation in order to achieve better outcomes for children, young people, and their families, in relation to adoption.

The work of Adoption Policy Unit is underpinned by the Adoption Act 2010, which was commenced on 1 November 2010.

The commencement of the Act coincided with Ireland's ratification of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs announced in May 2018 that clear evidence of illegal registration had been uncovered in records from St. Patrick's Guild former adoption agency.

Identification was possible because of a marker placed on some files specifying "adopted from birth." While the practice of incorrect registrations has been extremely difficult to prove in most instances owing to the deliberate failure of those involved to record any information about it, the label in SPG records has made it possible to identify possible cases and to pursue them further.

Press Release regarding the St. Patrick's Guild records.

Following the discovery of clear evidence of illegal registration in the St. Patrick's Guild records, the Minister directed that an analysis of adoption records be carried out to establish whether there is sufficient reliable evidence of the practice of illegal registration that can be extracted from the records of adoption agencies.

There are an estimated 150,000 adoption records in existence and, of these, approximately 100,000 are currently in the custody of the State, for example in the possession of either Tusla, the Child and Family Agency or the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

The review focused on those records in the custody of the State and a targeted sampling exercise was carried out owing to the volume of records involved.

The Terms of Reference of the review and the Chair's three interim reports are below:

• Review of Adoption Records - Terms of Reference
• Incorrect Birth Registrations - First Interim Report - September 2018
• Incorrect Birth Registrations - Second Interim Report - November 2018
• Incorrect Birth Registrations - Third Interim Report - April 2019

The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth published the final review on 9 March 2021. The published report contains a small number of redactions made by the Department to the report as submitted by the Independent Reviewer.

• Independent Review Report Into Illegal Birth Registrations
• Press release on publication of final review
• FAQs on Independent Review of Illegal Birth Registrations

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth does not hold any records relating to individual adoptions. Any individual seeking records should contact Tusla, the Child and Family Agency or the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

The department does hold the records and databases which transferred from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. If you would like to access any personal data which may be contained in these records, please see here.

Information and Tracing

Birth Information and Tracing - General Scheme and Heads of Bill

Minister Roderic O’Gorman, TD, has published the General Scheme of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill. The ground-breaking legislation will provide a full and clear right of access for adoptees and others with questions on their origins to birth certificates, birth and early life information.

Press Release

Composite Heads of Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2021

FAQs re Heads of Birth Information and Tracing Bill

The Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017

This legislation is arising from the Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012 which was signed into law on 28 April 2015.

The main purpose of The Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017 is to amend the Adoption Act 2010 to provide for:

• the voluntary placement for adoption and adoption of a child of married parents
• the dispensing with parental consent to adoption in circumstances where the High Court is satisfied that the parents of a child have failed in their duty towards that child for a continuous period of 36 months or more and where it is considered likely that such failure will continue, and where adoption is considered to be in the best interest of the child

This Act also amends the Adoption Act 2010 to reflect the adoption provisions provided for in the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 as well as provide for sole step-parent adoption.

The Act was signed into law on 19 July 2017 and was commenced on 19 October 2017.

• Adoption Amendment Act 2017

Under the Act the department committed to undertaking a Review and Consultation in respect of the Potential Introduction of Open or Semi-Open Adoption in Ireland.

The Final report on the Potential Introduction of Open or Semi-Open Adoption in Ireland was published on 6 November 2019.

This report is based on a review and consultation on the potential introduction of open or semi-open adoption in Ireland, which, pursuant to Section 42 of the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017, was carried out over a period of 18 months by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs.

The review included policy and legal analysis in addition to various forms of consultation with members of the public and key stakeholders.

Arrangements for open or semi-open adoption involve post-adoption contact, direct or indirect, between members of the birth and adoptive families of adopted children under 18. Post-adoption contact may involve a range of types of communication, such as the exchange of letters, information or items through a social worker or direct face-to-face meetings between members of the adoptive and birth families, including the adopted child.

dcya_adoptionunit@equality.gov.ie

Adoption Policy Unit

Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth

Block 1, Miesian Plaza, 50 – 58 Lower Baggot Street , D02 XW14

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