Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

That is my first issue. I wish to ask the Tánaiste about a number of pieces of legislation. I wish to ask about the bilateral arrangements and the legislation governing the protection of children. I know the Tánaiste will be sympathetic to this. It is in the matter of foreign adoptions, particularly those involving the Republic of Vietnam and Russia. As the Tánaiste probably knows the bilateral arrangements for thousands of Irish couples, many of whom have spent five to six years in the adoption process getting vetted, are now at a standstill. The bilateral arrangement with Vietnam expired on 1 May mainly because the Government did not have a sufficiently high-level contact between the Government and the Vietnamese Government. The issue with Russia relates to the post-adoption contact and supervision required by the Russian authorities. The administrative arrangements put in place by the HSE and the Adoption Board of Ireland are inadequate. I ask the Tánaiste to personally undertake to investigate this as a matter of urgency.

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