Professor Conor O'Mahony

In a report published today, Professor Conor O’Mahony said the State was aware of the possible existence of a practice of illegal birth registrations since the early 1950s and had received an actual admission of the practice as early as 1992 – but had failed to take sufficient steps to prevent the practice until 2010.

One of his central recommendations is for the establishment of a State inquiry into illegal adoptions, broadly defined, on a non-statutory basis. The report proposes that the inquiry should adopt the truth commission model and be informed by principles of transitional justice.

“The scope, composition and working methods of the inquiry should be determined in consultation with persons affected by illegal adoptions, and consideration should be given to including such a person as a full member of the inquiry,” it states.

The other 17 recommendations span the themes of the right to identity; access to counselling and other supports; access to records; the creation of a specialist tracing team to undertake a further review of suspicious files; and DNA and legal costs.

Professor O’Mahony produced the report on foot of a request from children’s minister Roderic O’Gorman in March 2021.

Responding to the report, Mr O’Gorman said: “I welcome the report from the special rapporteur on child protection. The report makes clear that it is the right of all persons to have the details of their birth accurately recorded.

“Since becoming minister, I have engaged extensively with people whose births were illegally registered, and established an interdepartmental group to consider solutions to the difficult and complex issues which arise.

“I am pleased that the special rapporteur, like the majority of people who participated in the consultation, approves of the measures set out in the Birth Information and Tracing Bill 2022. Progression of this bill is a priority for me as minister.

“I will now further develop the bill to take account of key recommendations made by the special rapporteur, such as the specialist tracing service to undertake an additional review of files.”