While the withholding of records from affected people has been a longstanding concern, we have recently identified a different form of omission affecting some applications made under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022 (BITA): records that appear to have been overlooked or excluded when applicants’ records were compiled for release. In particular, concerns have arisen in relation to three categories of records: (i) photocopies of St Patrick’s Guild index cards; (ii) entries from the St Patrick’s Guild (SPG) Index to Adopters Register; and (iii) minutes of Adoption Board meetings at which adoptions were ratified.
The circumstances surrounding each category of record are different, and the fact that a record was not provided to one person does not necessarily mean that the same has happened in every case. However, these records form part of each affected person’s history, and we believe they have a right to understand what has happened to the records relating to them, including how those records were created, retained and ultimately transferred into State custody. We also believe that affected people have a right to be informed where particular records may have been omitted from those provided to them, and to know how they can obtain copies of those records. Further information about each category of record, and how to request a review, is provided below.
Please note: The guidance below relates to specific categories of records that we have been able to identify as having been omitted from BITA releases. However, our work to identify and locate other relevant records is ongoing, particularly in relation to administrative records, such as the minutes of case committee meetings at which adoption matches were made.
records held by tusla
We have identified two particular categories of SPG records held by Tusla that may not have been provided to BITA applicants: photocopied index cards and entries from the SPG Index to Adopters Register. The circumstances surrounding each are explained below, together with information on how to request a review if you wish to establish whether these records are held in relation to you.
Correspondence with Tusla about these matters is ongoing and we will update this guidance if further information becomes available.
PHOTOCOPIEs of ST PATRICK’S GUILD INDEX CARDS
Q: What are the photocopied index cards?
A: The SPG index cards contain a range of personal information, including details about the adopted person and their mother, place and date of birth, addresses, information concerning the adopted person’s father (where available), family circumstances, payment arrangements, and details relating to the person’s adoption or discharge. See the example below (click to see a larger version). (Redaction has been carried out by Clann.)
Three versions of the SPG index cards are known to exist. When SPG was winding up its affairs and preparing to transfer records to Tusla, it made photocopies of the original index cards for the purpose of preparing a report for the Adoption Authority of Ireland. Tusla initially received the original index cards together with one set of photocopies when the SPG records were first transferred, and subsequently received a second set of photocopies once SPG had finalised its winding up process. However, when records were subsequently provided to applicants under the BITA, only the digitised image of the original index card was provided in the case that brought this issue to our attention.
Tusla has advised us that it regards these photocopied cards as ‘replicas’ of original index cards which have been professionally digitised and provided to applicants requesting records under the BITA. On that basis, Tusla has stated that it does not routinely provide applicants with the photocopied versions where it has provided a digitised image of the original. However, for reasons explained below, we have raised concerns with Tusla about this approach.
Q: Why might the photocopies be important if I have already received the original index card?
A: The concern is that a photocopy cannot necessarily be assumed to contain exactly the same information as the original card. We have seen evidence of SPG making annotations and adding information to records long after an adoption has taken place. It is therefore possible that, in some cases, a photocopy could contain a later annotation, marking or other information which does not appear on the original index card. To be clear, the photocopies obtained in the case which brought this issue to our attention did not contain additional information. However, we do not know whether this is true of every photocopied card held by Tusla.
Please note: In the case that brought the issue of the photocopied index cards to our attention, the photocopies ultimately provided by Tusla were simply duplicates and did not contain additional information. However, we cannot assume that this will necessarily be the case for every person. We do not wish to cause alarm or suggest that affected people should expect to find additional information on their photocopies. However, given the paramount importance of truth, justice and accountability to affected people, we are ethically bound to make people aware that these photocopies exist and to explain how they can obtain copies for themselves.
Q: Is Tusla automatically providing these photocopies to BITA applicants?
A: No. Tusla has informed us that its position is that it will not routinely issue photocopied versions of professionally digitised index cards. We have raised concerns about this and correspondence with Tusla is ongoing. Tusla has also advised us that it is carrying out an audit of cases involving SPG. However, the audit described to us is concerned with establishing whether there has been a pattern of omission of entries from the SPG Index to Adopters Register (discussed below). We have asked Tusla whether the audit will also examine the omission of photocopied index cards and any other categories of SPG records, and whether a similar exercise will be undertaken in respect of records originating from other agencies. As matters currently stand, Tusla’s position is that applicants who believe that information or records have not been provided should use its review process.
Q: How can I ask Tusla for my photocopied index cards?
A: If you are making a new application, we suggest that you make clear that you are requesting all records including any photocopies of the index cards (see our guide and FAQs for information on how to apply).
If you previously made a BITA application to Tusla and have already received your SPG records, you can request a review of your application and specifically ask for copies of all photocopied versions of your SPG index cards held by Tusla, in addition to the originals you may already have received. You may wish to make clear that you are seeking the photocopies themselves, not another copy of the digitised original. A template letter is provided below.
Please note: Tusla has confirmed to us that the review process remains open irrespective of when the original application was made.
You can request a review through the Tusla Portal. Tusla has also provided us with the email address bitappeals@tusla.ie for review requests. However, at the time of writing, we have not been able to independently verify this email address on Tusla’s public website. Therefore, the Tusla Portal may be the safest route. A template is below:
I am requesting a review of my Birth Information and Tracing application. Please establish whether Tusla holds any photocopied versions of my index card, including photocopies transferred by St Patrick’s Guild, which were not included with the records previously released to me. If so, I am requesting copies of all such records.
If SPG was involved in your adoption, you may also wish to request the relevant entry from the SPG Index to Adopters Register, as explained below.
ST PATRICK’S GUILD INDEX TO ADOPTERS REGISTER
We have also become aware of an issue concerning the omission of entries from the St Patrick’s Guild Index to Adopters Register when records were provided to applicants under the BITA.
Q: What is the SPG Index to Adopters Register?
A: In the case that brought this matter to our attention, an extract from this register was not initially provided with the other records. Tusla has since acknowledged that the register entry should have been provided. Tusla has informed us that it is now auditing cases in which SPG was the agency involved to establish whether there has been a pattern of omission of entries from the Index to Adopters Register. If SPG was involved in your adoption and you have already received your records from Tusla, we therefore recommend checking whether an extract or entry from the SPG Index to Adopters Register was included. If you cannot identify one among your records, you can include it in your request for review. For example:
I am also requesting that Tusla establish whether there is an entry relating to my adoption in the St Patrick’s Guild Index to Adopters Register and, if so, provide me with a copy of that entry.
The fact that an entry was omitted in one case does not mean that it was omitted in yours. This information is being provided so that people can check their own records and decide whether they wish to request a review.
Q: Why do I have to request a review if Tusla already holds these records? Why aren’t the records being provided to me as a matter of course?
A: This is one of the issues we are currently raising with Tusla. Our concern is that people cannot be expected to ask for a review of records they do not know exist. Because BITA applicants are not provided with a schedule of all records relating to them (see below), they are not in a position to know what records are held about them and therefore cannot independently establish whether everything has been provided. Nevertheless, Tusla’s current position is that the review mechanism is the primary route for applicants who query whether they have received all of the information held in relation to them. Until this matter is resolved, requesting a review is therefore the practical route available to people who wish to ask Tusla to check whether further records are held. We will update this guidance if Tusla’s position changes.
PEOPLE ADOPTED THROUGH OTHER AGENCIES
Q: I was not adopted through SPG. Should I request a review?
A: The specific records described above—the SPG photocopied index cards and the SPG Index to Adopters Register—relate to St Patrick’s Guild. We do not currently have evidence that the same records or the same pattern of omissions exists in relation to every other adoption agency. However, because BITA applicants are not provided with a schedule of all records held by Tusla about them, applicants cannot necessarily know from the records they have received whether other relevant records exist but have not been identified or provided. For that reason, people whose adoptions were arranged through other agencies, institutions or individuals may also wish to request a review and ask Tusla to check again whether all records and information held in relation to them have been identified and provided.
Q: What should I ask Tusla to check?
A: You can ask Tusla to undertake a fresh search of the records held in relation to you, including records originating from your adoption agency, institution or other body involved in your case, and to establish whether there are any records, copies, extracts, register entries, annotations or other relevant information that were not identified or provided when your application was originally processed. A template is provided below:
I am requesting a review of my Birth Information and Tracing application. I would be grateful if a fresh search could be undertaken to establish whether all records and information held in relation to me have been identified and provided. In particular, please check whether there are any additional records, copies of records, register or index entries, annotations, extracts or other information relating to me which were not included in the records previously released.
Q. If I request a review will Tusla release all records relating to me?
A. No. In the first instance, a BITA application does not necessarily result in a copy of every record held on a person’s file; the Act provides access to specified categories of information and to records containing that information, ‘to the extent that it is practicable to do so’. (However, in the cases we have seen, the Adoption Authority has generally taken a more progressive approach to the release of information under the BITA). Second, it is important to note that, unlike people who apply for their personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), BITA applicants are not provided with a schedule of the records held about them when they apply for their records.
For these reasons, we continue to recommend making a GDPR Subject Access Request (SAR) as well as applying under BITA. Our earlier guidance explained that a GDPR request can provide a schedule of the records on your file, which can help you identify records that may not have been provided through the BITA process. Importantly, applying under BITA does not restrict your separate right of access under the GDPR. It is important to note, however, that a GDPR schedule will generally list records contained in the adopted or boarded out person’s personal file and may not identify every record relating to their adoptionor boarding out, particularly administrative records held elsewhere within Tusla or the Adoption Authority, or records that remain in the custody of private entities.
records held by the ADOPTION AUTHORITY of ireland
While the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) appears to have taken a more progressive approach to the release of information under the BITA, we are aware that many adopted people who applied to the AAI were not provided with the minutes of the meeting of the Adoption Board at which their adoption was ratified.
Q: How do I request the Adoption Board minutes?
A: Requests for review can be sent to: info.review@aai.gov.ie using the template below:
I am requesting a review of my Birth Information and Tracing application. In particular, I am requesting a copy of the minutes of the meeting of the Adoption Board held on the date on which my adoption was ratified, insofar as those minutes contain information relating to me and are available for release under the Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022.
I would also be grateful if a fresh search could be undertaken to establish whether there are any other records or information held in relation to me which were not identified or provided when my original application was processed.
Please note: Unfortunately, the Adoption Board minutes are generally not detailed. This reflects the secrecy surrounding the Adoption Board’s proceedings under the Adoption Act 1952, which allowed applications to be heard wholly or partly in private and prohibited the disclosure of individual Board members’ opinions.