Sir, – Jennifer O'Connell in a thought-provoking article "The battle for babies' souls" (Weekend Review, March 20th) makes a significant error when describing Pact as being defunct. She also mistakenly reports that Pact provided ("fobbed off") an adoptee with a single line in a register.
Pact continues to be a registered charity, accredited by the Adoption Authority of Ireland under Section 4 of the Adoption Act 2010 to provide a range of adoption services. Pact, formerly the Protestant Adoption Society, provided safe custody for some of the records from the Bethany Homes when that agency closed but was not involved in any of the activities of the Bethany Homes. Your reporter referred to Pact “fobbing” an adoptee off with minimum information in 2013. Subsequent to the Adoption Act 2010, Pact does not provide an information service and had no access to the Bethany Homes records in 2013. These records have since been transferred to the Adoption Authority of Ireland. – Yours, etc,
CATHAL CLIFFORD,
Principal Social Worker,
Pact,
Dublin 14.