Illegal birth registrations Ireland

Roderic O'Gorman, the minister for children, equality, disability, integration and youth, placed the apology on the Oireachtas record as the Birth ...

The minister also confirmed details of payments which will be made towards legal costs associated with, for example, a declaration of parentage. “However, nothing in these measures can undo the past and fully right the wrongs that these people have experienced. Government apologises to people affected by illegal birth registration

The Minster has offered a formal apology on behalf of the Government. Roderic O'Gorman, apologised for the 'deep hurt' experienced by people affected by illegal ...

An apology by Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman in the Seanad on Tuesday evening has been described as having 'missed the mark'

“He referred to how children had been deprived of their right to an accurate birth registration - that's missing the elephant in the room entirely. “He didn't seem to know what he was apologising for. There had been too much reference in his speech to the Seanad on “correcting the official record.” Prof O’Mahony said he was in favour of court orders compelling family members to provide DNA evidence, but the Government did not accept that. Prof O’Mahony said that the people involved had experienced wrongdoing for a long time. The Minister said what had happened “was a historic wrong with deep and enduring impacts”.

Survivors of illegal adoptions expressed disappointment because of the short notice given and because it was not made in the Dáil or with them present. Read ...

“I have always been very clear that these registrations were illegal and in all my language in the apology last night. The definitions of this bill are broad and in order to ensure as many people can use that definition as possible. “I met with other people who have been subject to illegal birth registrations before and after the apology yesterday. “The stigma experienced by unmarried mothers and their children was fundamentally wrong,” the minister said. “The 24 hours' notice certainly was less than ideal. “I committed that I would go and speak to the Taoiseach in terms of ensuring that those who were subject to illegal birth registrations feel that they have parity of esteem in terms of the State’s response to them compared to the State’s response to those who were maybe in Magdalane laundries and those who were in mother and baby homes. “We changed the definition to include the term ‘false and misleading’ information to recognise that many of these incorrect birth registrations come out as the result of false and misleading information being provided and that change was made in the Dáil and now stands in the bill.” “What I said to them is that I would engage with the Taoiseach on the concern that they had expressed to me in terms of ensuring that there was full recognition by the State of what they’ve endured and that’s what I’m going to do. “I made it in the Seanad because I wanted to demonstrate that this apology wasn’t just an apology in the abstract, it was being made as part of the Birth Information and Tracing Bill. And that’s the bill that I’ve been working on for the last year and a half, which I’ve engaged very extensively with the illegal birth registration group. Prof O’Mahony said the short notice of the apology was “unfortunate” and that some people felt that the apology in the Seanad was a “lesser form of apology” given that it came from Minister O’Gorman and not from the Taoiseach in the Dáil. Speaking on Today with Claire Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1, Minister O’Gorman said he will engage with the Taoiseach on the issue of a state apology to ensure that people affected by illegal birth registrations receive “full recognition” by the State. “I was left with just that I had a different date of birth and a different place of birth, and I was given no other information after that I wasn’t even given my birth name, so it was an absolutely terrible time but since that point, I have met with a great group of people who are all in the same boat.