Dear [name of applicant]

 

Thank you for submitting your application under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022, dated 03/10/2022

We are writing to update you on the progress of your application and to let you know that the Adoption Authority will respond to your request as soon as possible but, unfortunately, will not be able to respond to your request within 30 days.

 

Due to the recent commencement of the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 (more details of which can be found at Birthinfo.ie) we are experiencing a very high volume of applications. This combined with the number of staff available to process them has regrettably affected the Authority’s capacity to promptly respond to your application. These factors have caused unavoidable delays in responding to your application.

 

Under the Act, the timeline for responding to applications is one month from the receipt of a request.

The Act also provides for an extension of a further two months to respond, taking into account the complexity of the application. We are extending our response time by a further two months and will notify you of any changes to this situation.

 

The reason we require additional time to complete your application is because of complexity whereby adoption records may be spread across files compiled by An Bord Uchtála, Adoption Authority, Registered/Accredited Adoption Societies, Registers of Intercountry Adoptions and historic bound ledgers. It is essential that Authority staff conduct detailed searches of all our record formats and information sources in order to ensure we send you all relevant data which may exist.

 

We will respond to your request as soon as possible and appreciate your understanding in relation to this matter.  We are very mindful of how important this information is and remain committed to responding in the shortest possible time.

 

Kind regards