It was confirmed by the Adoption Authority of Ireland this morning that out of nearly 7,000 requests from adopted people for their birth records only 65 has been concluded by last Wednesday's deadline.
The requests were made under the Birth, Information and Tracing Bill 2022 which gives adoptive people an automatic right to see their original birth certificates.
This became law last June.
While Adoption Rights campaigner Claire McGettrick from Cavan believes there is a sense of "wanting to get this right" she warned that the deadlines are "unrealistic" because of how the legislation defines information.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Claire said the process for releasing records is unnecessarily complicated because of how the legislation defines information into several subcategories.
Therefore, information officers must examine the files (often containing illegible handwriting) in search of information that is in line with numerous restrictive definitions before determining what can be released to the applicant.
She added that the legislation is "deeply flawed" and is something campaigners like herself have warned about since as far back as June of 2001, however it has fallen on deaf ears:
