Call for root and branch reform of adoption system

Revelations relating to mother and baby homes have brought Ireland’s “shameful indifference” to the rights of adopted people and natural mothers to the fore.

Chairman of the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) Dr Geoffrey Shannon said revelations concerning the deaths of infants in Tuam as well as the wider practices in mother and baby homes have brought the need to legislate for information and tracing rights for adopted people and their natural parents sharply into focus.

“When we look at the many stories of abuse and cruelty, there were symptomatic of a tendency towards secrecy and I think that is the broad message that we shouldn’t forget,” he said.