The Adoption Board has granted all requests from adult adoptees for original birth certificates since its new members were appointed last year, The Irish Times understands. Original birth certs contain the name of a person's birth mother and may also contain the name of the birth father.
This represents a profound change for adopted people seeking information about their birth parents. It has been welcomed by the Adopted People's Association, which, however, remains critical of Adoption Board staff for not publicising the change.
A spokesman for the board would neither confirm nor deny the change of practice, saying only that each case is dealt with on its merits.
The Adopted People's Association urged adoptees who have been refused information in the past to send a new application directly to the board's chairwoman, Judge Mary Fahy. The board has been the regulator of adoption services for almost half a century and has been seen by many adoptees as reluctant to provide information.
The new board, appointed last year, is understood to have taken a more liberal approach than previous boards. The number of requests for birth certificates, however, has been fewer than 50. Mr Kevin Cooney of the Adopted People's Association last night said this was because adopted people had not been told that their chances of getting their birth certificates had vastly improved.
He said the association was angry that Adoption Board staff had not publicised what was a major change. Judge Fahy had taken a very positive attitude to the question of information rights, he said.
A High Court case in 1991 had established that the board was obliged to consider the merits of each application for information and could not apply a blanket policy of refusing requests, he said. Despite this, no major change had taken place until the new board had been appointed.
A more recent Supreme Court decision found that, in addition to birth mothers having a right to confidentiality, adoptees have a right to information about their origins. However, it did not resolve the issue of how to balance these rights, and this is under consideration in the Department of Health and Children.
Mr Cooney called on the Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Frank Fahey, to establish a post-adoption services board to take over responsibility for information and other services following an adoption.