Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I first sought to raise this issue on the Adjournment on 3 March, three days before the agreement was forwarded to Vietnam. On 30 April I submitted a parliamentary question about the matter. I join with other Members in expressing concern at the position into which parents and children have been put. I also want to be positive. It is absolutely urgent that a Minister visit Vietnam and the conclusion of the new agreement be achieved at a level that is acceptable to both sides of the protocol. The same issue arises curiously with Russian adoption. An administrative readjustment is not acceptable to those on the other side of the signing process.

I have read with care the previous replies from the Minister of State. Every Member in the Chamber shares his concern that children be given the maximum protection at the highest international standard. That should not be set against the rights of children to have a life other than in an institutional setting or the right of parents to provide a home for a child.

Another issue arises with the manner in which there has been an administrative drag in this matter, separate from the Minister of State and Parliament. We are now at a stage where the matter is extremely urgent. With the absence of a new agreement, the whole adoption process has shut down since 1 May . Those with existing adoptions registered, those waiting for registration and those in process are all affected. In his last detailed reply, the Minister of State gave assurances about some of these categories which are not at risk. What about those places where negotiations have been initiated but not concluded? Will the Minister of State take this matter in hand and resolve it?

The Department of Foreign Affairs arranges the signature of international agreements, the text of which has been brought to conclusion by the lead Department. The lead Department, however, is not the final arranger to the assent of both sides at the signing of protocols between countries. One must respect the other side of the agreement, in these cases the Vietnamese Republic and Russia. The advantage of this is that one would have a completed agreement that could be used as a model, not just in content but as a process for conclusion. We want to achieve a resolution to this matter as soon as possible.

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