Katherine Zappone

Katherine Zappone, the Minister for Children, has paused the controversial Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill.

The delay follows a meeting on Tuesday between the minister’s department and advocacy groups as well as lawyers and social workers.

Ms Zappone said that following the meeting she thought it would be more helpful to discuss the challenges in the legislation before proceeding with the bill.

She said she had written a letter to Attorney General Séamus Woulfe saying that she was “of the very strong view that we needed to adopt a different approach in preparing amendments to the Bill for committee stage”.

“The views expressed by adopted people about their life experiences and their interaction with State and church officials and agencies, particularly with regard to their efforts to seek information that is absolutely core to their identity, was deeply disturbing to me.”

Ms Zappone added in her letter that “it was my considered view that the approach of the Bill, while not intended to, would extend the harm that adopted people through legal or illegal means have experienced in the past into the present”.