From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman TD, has today published an independent review report into incorrect birth registrations. This independent report was commissioned by the then Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, following Tusla’s discovery in early 2018 of evidence of illegal birth registrations in the files of the St. Patrick’s Guild adoption society.
As part of this review, Tusla and the Adoption Authority separately examined records from more than 30 agencies, under the oversight of an Independent Reviewer. These agencies included adoption societies, nursing homes and boarded out records. Between them, both agencies examined a total of 1,496 records.
The report of the Independent Reviewer finds that neither AAI nor Tusla were able to identify a unique marker which was suggestive of incorrect birth registration, similar to that found in the St. Patrick’s Guild files, in the records sampled. Neither agency was able to establish clear evidence of incorrect birth registrations.
There are no additional confirmed cases of illegal birth registrations as a result of this independent review. The review did identify potential markers or wording suggestive of markers across a percentage of the files it inspected.
Following the publication of the independent review report and the recent Prime Time documentary on illegal birth registration, Minister O’Gorman has requested the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Professor Conor O’Mahony to examine the significant complexities and challenges associated with the matter, and set out proposed next steps for the Government.
Speaking about the report this morning, the Minister pointed to a number of key findings in the report. Quoting the Independent Reviewer, the Minister stated that:
“Neither AAI nor Tusla was able to identify a unique marker which was suggestive of incorrect birth registration, similar to that found in the St. Patrick Guild’s cases. While the sampling review of the files did identify some potential markers or wording suggestive of markers, both agencies reported that they were unable to establish ‘clear evidence of incorrect birth registrations’.
"I note that in the opinion of the Independent Reviewer that it is unlikely that a more comprehensive review of records would provide clear information relating to the existence of markers or wording suggestive of markers and the degree to which they may potentially be linked to incorrect birth registrations.”
The Minister further stated that:
“The results of this independent review have shown that the St. Patrick’s Guild files were unique in that there was a clear marker on the files which, when examined, correlated to illegal birth registrations. The contents of the close to 1,500 records sampled for this review contained no such markers.
"The review of the sample of records referenced potential concerns about historic practices, including issues relating to informed consent, adoption to other jurisdictions, and child protection issues. This will come as no surprise to anyone who has been following the many revelations, over many years, about how women and children were treated in Ireland in the past.”
The Minister also spoke about next steps:
“I know significant concerns remain about the practice of illegal birth registrations, and for that reason I have also asked the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection to consider the very significant complexities and challenges, including the deep ethical issues, which arise in relation to the issue of illegal birth registrations, and to propose an appropriate course of action.
"The Independent Reviewer is clear on the importance of an effective information and tracing service. I have committed to urgently progressing legislation in this area, and am working intensively with the Office of the Attorney General to this end. I am hoping to bring Heads of Bill to Cabinet in the coming weeks.
"I have established an Interdepartmental Group which is currently examining issues arising for the individuals whose birth was the subject of an illegal birth registration in the St. Patrick’s Guild files, including issues around inheritance, amending birth registrations, taxation, identity documents etc. which span the responsibility of a number of Departments and offices. This group will report to me with proposals within a two month window, and I will continue to engage with my Cabinet colleagues on the matter.”
ENDS
1. sample a set of records to be defined in an agreed methodology, to ascertain whether clear evidence of incorrect registrations might be identified;
2. build an overall picture of the extent to which incorrect registrations have occurred, by time period;
3. form a conclusion as to whether a more detailed analysis has the potential to yield clear information, e.g. the existence of key identifiers or markers that signal potential incorrect registrations; and
4. make recommendations to the Minister on what further form of investigation or analysis, if any, would be appropriate, having regard to the extent of usable information emerging from the initial sampling process.
Following the publication of the independent review report, the Minister has asked the Special Rapporteur, Conor O’Mahony, to consider and propose next steps. Conor O’Mahony is Professor and Deputy Dean at University College Cork School of Law. He is also the Director at UCC’s Child Law Clinic. Professor O’Mahony holds a PhD from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and has lectured in UCC since 2005. He was appointed as Special Rapporteur on Child Protection in 2019.