Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE ADOPTION AUTHORITY of Ireland (AAI) has received over 3,800 applications for records in the year since the implementation of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022.
The Act, which came into force on this day last year, grants right of access to birth certificates, birth and early life information, where available, for all persons who were adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration, or who otherwise have questions in relation to their origins.
In the day after the system opened on 3 October 2022, the Adoption Authority of Ireland received 817 applications for information, according to the Department of Children and Equality.
The Act also allows for access to available information by a child of a relevant person where their parent has died, and for access by the next of kin of children who died in an institution.
Information requests can be made to the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) and Tusla through the bespoke website BirthInfo.ie.
The AII said there has been significant progress but that further work still lies ahead.
In the past year, it has received over 3,800 applications for birth certificates, birth information, early life, care and medical information.
The vast majority of these applications have been processed, and fewer than one percent of these applications (36) remain to be completed.
Orlaith Traynor, chair of the board at AAI, said she is “pleased that the Authority has now processed the backlog of birth information applications”.
She added that the “Authority can now respond to new applications within the timeframes specified in the Act”.
The waiting time for people who requested information via the Act tripled from 30 days to 90 days due to the level of demand in the weeks after the Act came into force. The waiting time subsequently increased to several months.
Traynor said she is “mindful of how important the timely receipt of this information is to adoptees, those boarded-out or nursed-out and those who were the subject of incorrect birth registrations”.
Meanwhile, 3,417 people registered their details on the Contact Preference Register (CPR) since July 2022.
The first parts of the Birth Information and Tracing Act came into effect on 1 July, 2022 with the establishment of the Contact Preference Register (CPR).
The main function of the Register is to enable contact between family members affected by adoption.
The Register also serves as a way to lodge a contact preference, including a request for privacy.
Where a preference of no contact has been registered, the AAI will conduct an information session with the specified person.
In all, 255 matches were completed within this timeframe and 85% of those added to the Register in the past year are adopted persons.
Interim CEO of the AAI, Colm O’Leary said the level of registrations have “exceeded expectations”.
However, he said the “Authority is keen for more birth parents to join the CPR and record a contact preference”.
O’Leary said this will “enable the Authority to continue its work with the CPR in future years”.
The AAI also received close to 400 tracing requests in the past year, of which 66% have been allocated to a social worker and over 10% moved into contact with a relative.
The AAI noted that a “tracing process can be complex and can involve far more persons than the person initiating a trace and the identified contact”.
The Authority added: “Traces can conclude with unexpected outcomes and the AAI is often requested to pause a tracing process to allow those identified in the process the information received.
“Social workers frequently provide essential supports and guidance to those who initiate a trace, as well as those who are found as a result of a trace.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I’m in my 70’s, on one tablet for under active thyroid, yrs ago prescriptions were for 12 months. I visit my doctor once a year for blood test and new prescription, then I just phone her to send it to pharmacy again in 6 months. As far as I know she gets same amount per year for me as a patient who visits their doctor on a regular basis on a medical card.
@Nancy Gallagher: I’ve never seen a prescription for twelve months and, according to the article, the current maximum is six months. My doctor issued a renewal every six months on request until recently, when I qualified for a GP Visit card. Then I was told that it was the practice to only give a three-month prescription to people with medical cards or GO Visit cards, and to charge €25 per prescription.
@Pat Kelly: Interesting that I can walk into a chemist in Spain and buy my meds without a prescription and in bulk, and I have come home with 6 months supply at roughly have the cost of getting them at home, not to mention the doctor costs. Go figure.
@Pat Kelly: That should have read “roughly half the cost…
@Pat Kelly: Pat, current time is 6 months, quite a few yrs ago it was 12 months. As I am in my 70’s I qualify for medical card so my doctor doesn’t charge me for repeat prescription or blood tests. Pharmacy charge €1 each month for my meds.
@Pat Kelly: ohh pat ur dead right. I get all my meds in Spain and take them home. As I know thousands of others do. I never fill an Irish prescription
@Nancy Gallagher: I am 75 and have a medical card. My GP will only give repeat prescriptions for 3 months, it used to be 6 monthly until I qualified for medical card. Hopefully medical card holders will be eligible for the 12 monthly scripts!
@bridgettyrrell@hotmail.com: hi Bridget, it seems doctors differ. My husband completes repeat prescription form online and his doctor e-mails new prescription direct to pharmacy. You would wonder what the guidelines really are, if you have same symptoms and meds for years then surely once a yr visit should cover you unless your symptoms change, and if you have medical card your doctor is paid.
Is this not just a ploy to empty waiting rooms in surgeries. OK, so people who are stable on their meds might seem a good idea, regular check ups are also necessary for these people. Is it to cut down on paying doctors for treating those on medical cards I wonder?
@Dave Barrett: It’s because the population is getting bigger and the amount of doctors is getting smaller. Hard to recruit from abroad because of housing crisis and cost of living.
@Dave Barrett: A shortage of available GP appointments, I’d say.
@Dave Barrett: What would be wrong with less waiting to see a GP? I’ve known people getting prescriptions via Zoom – the doctor can see them & hear their coughs without them having to go out in the cold.
I don’t mean to sound like a wet blanket, but let’s face it, there are some pretty awful pharmacists out there. So do we have to rely on what mood they’re in on any given day? Plus the list of medicines not applicable to this will probably be longer than the ones that are. I can see major issues ahead :(
@Anna Carr (Morrigan_Dubh): Shop around, find a nice one. There’s no shortage of outlets.
GPs might be livid to lose this handy revenue stream.
@Argus Romsworth:
Hardly, it’s not like they have difficulty finding new patients.
@P.J. Nolan: Thing is they have to mny patients as it is and cannot take on any more.
@Dave Barrett:
Agreed
Pharmacists are not trained diagnosticians.
It’s medical care on the cheap administered by untrained individuals .
@John Ryan:
Get used to it, we don’t have enough doctors
@John Ryan: They are trained. Check out how it works in Spain, as referred to in previous posts above.
While this may be useful, time will tell, in my experience over the past several months is availability to my medications. I’m on a lot of medications, I won’t go into details as it’s not really pertinent, but almost every month at least one, usually more, of my meds are low in stock. The pharmacy have maybe a weeks supply and hope to have more in later. The latest is none for one particular item, it can’t be got anywhere. I’ve heard numerous excuses, this war, that war, Brexit, who knows? So I’m a little sceptical about this latest government plan when there’s a far bigger crisis they’re ignoring.
@Boyne Shark: Agreed, I know some affected by temporary shortages, but in fairness, if the prescription has expired that week while they’re awaiting a delivery, it makes sense to continue the order.
Great move, needs to be implemented BEFORE the winter cold and “flu” season though.
Also all OTC meds need to be taken off prescription, except for chronic cases, using GP appointments and Emergency OOH services for a prescription for Calpol for example is ludicrous!
First line ABs for UTIs, eye infections and minor skin ailments etc should be administer by Pharmacies.
@Nickb: Agree in general. But I imagine it’s not unusual for a feverish person to get confused about the repeat dose they’re taking. Easy to do damage if someone thinks they know what they’re suffering from & goes out and buys something that won’t help or clashes with existing meds. Mind you, my local pharmacists have been brilliant at spotting OTC ingredients that shouldn’t be taken with prescribed meds.
@F Fitzgerald: It’s all on their computer system, drug interactions should not be an issue?
have your say