Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Durkan is a good man. I have no complaint with him.

I am trying to make a serious point, that every day there are constituents telephoning us, calling to us and coming to our offices about all sorts of issues. It is interesting to note in the midst of the current situation that while one would expect that people would come to us about issues of social welfare, housing, poverty, education and crime, I have received many calls, as other colleagues have, about the Adoption Bill with people expressing concerns about the situation. In that regard, I compliment, through the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Barry Andrews, and thank him - I am glad other colleagues have said it across the floor - for at least keeping us informed and appearing to be trying to do something about an issue which is of concern to many. The trip to Vietnam was part of that process.

I have always taken a serious approach to the issue of adoption. I remember when I was quite small my then elderly aunt adopted a girl. I can talk about her because she is now in Australia. As a young person, I was fascinated as I grew up and understood what adoption was about and understood the needs of that cousin of mine. She was no different than any of my other cousins, she was treated properly and well.

Many people are coming to my clinic and telephoning me in my office, as they do other colleagues, making the point that they want to adopt. Deputy McHugh made the point about the issue of age. I have had people come to my clinic in recent times who wanted to admit to me that they were reaching an age which they were concerned would become an issue. They wanted this process to be completed, they wanted to deal with the matter now and they did not want it being delayed any further because of their age profile. I have received a great deal of correspondence from different groups in my constituency and elsewhere. A difficulty we all, as Members, encounter is the delivery of e-mails which we are unable to source. Sometimes people send the same material to us all. However, I always appreciate those, particularly from my constituency, who share their views with us.

Other colleagues will have received correspondence from the International Adoption Association, which is based at the Terenure Enterprise Centre near but not quite in my constituency. I want to put on record a couple of things that he has said. People still have concerns despite the appearance of this legislation. Progress is clearly being made, but there are still gaps, so it is fair enough to mention a couple of them. The International Adoption Association represents more than 1,300 families engaged in intercountry adoptions. It claims to provide valuable information, education and networking support to applicants and adoptive families who welcome children in need to loving and secure homes. The association states:

...intercountry adoption into Ireland is in need of repair. Currently, we have welcomed as a country in excess of 5,000 children into loving and secure Irish families. These children are doing very well, as proven by research conducted by the Children's Research Centre at Trinity College. This is in line with international research and clearly indicates that intercountry adopted children recover and indeed thrive in permanent and loving family environments.

The association also makes the point - many of us would agree with this - that, as we know from our own history, institutions are no places to raise children. The overwhelming majority of children adopted into Ireland are adopted out of institutions and orphanages. The association believes that we should continue to provide homes to many more children in need. We must treat this as an important issue. It may be a strange thing to say less than three weeks from the budget, but this issue is just as important as any legislative issue that will come before us in the next three weeks. We should give it our attention and understand that people are particularly concerned about this matter and they want to see progress. It is not just the families concerned, but also the surrounding network and support services which are asking us to help them. I am sure the Opposition will seek to dot the i's and to cross the t's, but I hope this Bill will be expedited and enforced as quickly as possible. The Minister must use his influence and resources to ensure all the regulations are adopted.

The current basis for intercountry adoption is to be found in the Adoption Acts of 1952 to 1998, which I mentioned earlier. The Adoption Act 1952 provided for the establishment of the Adoption Board and put in place formal adoption procedures for the first time in Ireland. The 1952 legislation has been amended six times by the passing of Adoption Acts in 1964, 1974, 1976, 1988, 1991 and 1998. I am sure Deputy Durkan will remember what Governments were in power in those years. Various Governments can take the credit for that legislation.

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