I have questions on two pieces of legislation. First, in the previous Dáil, I proposed legislation for the establishment of a single authority to look after the River Shannon. The previous Government did not oppose it when my party brought it through Second Stage. Will the Government facilitate passage of the Shannon River Agency Bill 2016?

The information and tracing Bill is a Bill with which the Tánaiste is familiar. It was priority legislation for the Tánaiste when she was Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, and she has been elevated on two occasions since then. I seek commitment that this will be a priority for this Government because what we are concerned with here is giving every human being the fundamental right to identity.

It was discussed in the Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016 yesterday.

The information and tracing Bill is long overdue. When will that come before the House?

On the same issue, what we want to see is an amendment to the existing legislation so that we can carry through and give people the right to trace as of now as opposed to the Minister's statement yesterday which appears to kick it out into the long grass, possibly longer than this Government will survive.

In regard to the Shannon, Deputy Troy will be aware of the work that was done by the previous Government in bringing all of the relevant stakeholders together in a forum. It is the first time that has been done effectively. It will be a question for the new Minister to consider whether there needs to be a statutory basis to that authority.

No decision has been made.

Not at this point. The focus, as the Deputy will be aware, has been on bringing the stakeholders together to ensure that the many different agencies involved are working in a co-ordinated, consistent way. That had not been done at a high level previously. This was an initiative that was taken by then Minister of State, Deputy Harris, at that time. It was very much welcomed by all the stakeholders and will prove valuable. As to whether it needs to be put on a statutory basis, no doubt that will arise from the work and discussions being done by the group of stakeholders.

The adoption and tracing Bill, the Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016, has been before the House in recent days. The issues in regard to tracing have, I understand from Deputy Burton and others, been raised.

Very serious constitutional issues arose, on which when I was Minister for Children and Youth Affairs there were many discussions with the Attorney General. Progress has been made in setting a mechanism in place to protect the rights of both the natural mother and the person seeking information. I am sure the Minister will, with the Attorney General's advice, consider whether it is feasible to introduce it in the current Bill or whether it needs to be introduced in separate legislation.