Adoption reunions at risk due to backlog, Tusla warns

There was a “substantial risk” that some adopted people or their parents would die before having a chance to reunite, due to a backlog in the State processing requests to trace relatives under a new law, Tusla warned the Government.

Adopted people have been able to apply for full access to their birth certificate and other information about their early lives since October 2022, as well as a tracing service to connect them with parents or relatives who wish to meet them.

The child and family agency said there was a risk its Birth Information and Tracing service could “collapse” if extra funding was not provided.

Tusla sought an additional €5.5 million in funding from the Department of Children in the budget last year. No extra funding was provided.

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Since the new law giving greater rights to adopted people came into force, Tusla has received more than 7,200 requests for access to birth information and 5,750 requests to its tracing service.

In an August 3rd, 2023, submission seeking more funding, the agency said the current backlog could take “four to five years to clear” without more resources. The agency said there was a “substantial risk” people who had applied to the tracing service would die while their case was among the backlog, “therefore being denied contact and possible birth family reunion”.

The submission, released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information Act, warned that this could create “substantial reputational damage and negative media attention” for both Tusla and the department.

Tusla stated it had previously sought €6 million in funding before the new law coming into effect, to meet the expected surge in demand for the service. The agency said it received “less than half” of that figure from the department, meaning it had to cover the shortfall.

In its submission, Tusla said it was “not in a position” to continue to divert funds from elsewhere to maintain existing service levels. The document said Tusla could not sustain the €3 million deficit it was making up from other resources, which along with continued demand would “put the entire service at risk”.

Tusla said the increased budget – if approved – would fund an extra 43 staff to work through the large volume of requests, “to reduce the risk of clients dying while awaiting a service”.

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In a statement, Tusla said it had processed 89 per cent of applications requesting birth information, but nearly 3,000 applications made to its tracing service were waiting to be allocated to a social worker to progress.

A spokeswoman for the agency said it continued to receive about 40 new applications for tracing each week. Even though “no additional funding” was provided by the department, Tusla was making “significant progress” on the backlog using existing resources, she said.

Previously people who were adopted, boarded out, or had their birth illegally registered could only access heavily redacted information about their birth and early life, with the law placing greater emphasis on relatives’ rights to privacy.

In the new system, parents or relatives of someone who was adopted can register whether they wish to be contacted or not, if the adopted person applies to the tracing service.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland, which also holds birth and adoption records, has processed 4,000 requests for information since late 2022. Some 345 of the 526 tracing requests it received had been allocated a social worker to progress the case, the authority said.

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