Adopted people will be able to get access to their birth certificates even if a parent indicates they do not wish to be identified under new legislation published today.
Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman said that nobody will be denied access to their information under the proposed new law.
Groups representing adoptees have repeatedly called for full access to information around their identities.
The minister said the law strikes a "fair and compassionate" balance between the competing rights of adopted people seeking information and parents' right to privacy.
The Government believes it is possible to do this by using an approach based in GDPR despite the previous Attorney General advising that it was not feasible under the Constitution.
Mr O'Gorman said the privacy rights of the birth mother would be protected in the context of emphasising to the adopted person the importance of respecting the birth parent's no contact preference.
The Information and Tracing legislation applies to all people who were adopted, boarded out, the subject of an illegal birth registration and others with questions relating to their identity.
They will be able to access birth certs, early life information and medical records where any of that information is available.
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The legislation will set up a new Contact Preference Register replacing the existing facility.
When the law is passed, there will be a three-month period when a parent can indicate their wishes relating to contact.
The Minister said that when someone seeks access to a birth certificate, the contact preference register will be checked.
If there is no entry, or a parent has said they can be contacted, the information will be issued immediately.
If a birth parent has registered a "no contact preference", an information meeting will be held between the child and a social worker.
The adoptee will be asked to respect the birth parent's right to privacy and then full birth information will be released.
The legislation will go to the Oireachtas Childrens' Committee in the coming weeks for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on Children, Kathleen Funchion, welcomed the new legislation.
"I have consistently advocated on behalf of all adopted people for the right to their personal birth and care information. And to this end I published legislation, which passed in January of this year, to give all adopted people the right to access their birth records.
"This legislation really matters for adopted people and I look forward to working with the Minister and any relevant departments to make this hugely significant legislation a reality."
Susan Lohan of the Adoption Rights Alliance welcomed the legislation saying it met their most of their wishes.
She said the most important thing was that a whole variety of information was covered, not just birth certificates, as she said they were insufficient on their own.
She welcomed the plan for some information to be released to an applicant automatically but she said she had some reservations about mandatory meetings with social workers in the case where a parent has indicated they did not wish to be contacted.
