Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The effect of all these visits was to obtain all the information possible to allow us to make an informed decision. In the case of Vietnam, the effect of these withdrawals, including our own, has caused the Vietnamese Government to put far greater resources into the issue of bringing itself not only within the provisions of the Hague Convention but also to bring in new adoption legislation. Different personnel have been brought into this area.

Deputy Shatter mentioned Ethiopia and Russia. It is still our intention to seek a bilateral agreement with both of those countries. However, as the Deputy pointed out, from the date of the enactment of the adoption Bill, which will shortly go through this House, if a bilateral agreement is not in place, it will not be possible to effect an adoption from those countries. The adoption Bill will contain a provision on transitional arrangements. I have met our officials and advisers from the Attorney General's office to discuss those transitional arrangements, how far that process can go and what point one must have reached on the adoption process before one can be allowed to continue to completion, even though there is no bilateral agreement in place and the Bill would have been enacted.

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