David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to speak on the Bill which I welcome and wish speedy progress through the House. The Bill is long-awaited but makes some important changes to adoption law in practice. It will repeal the Act of 2001, will mean the dissolution of the Adoption Board and its replacement by the Adoption Authority of Ireland and will ratify the Hague convention on Inter-Country Adoptions. The convention is the main international statute governing inter-country adoptions and its aim is to put in place better safeguards for inter-country adoptions and for all people concerned, in particular for children involved in the adoption process.

I came across a particularly interesting quote recently that adoption is about finding a family for a child and not a child for a family. Putting children at the centre is quite important. Like many other Members, I have received a number of representations from people on inter-country adoptions, especially with Vietnam. I have met prospective parents, as has the Minister of State who is quite sympathetic and concerned about their plight.

Recently I met two ladies who asked me to raise a number of points. They understand the importance of the convention and that the interests of the child are paramount at all times but they believe certain key changes need to be made to the Bill before it is passed. They are concerned there is no adoption from non-Hague or non-bilateral countries. They said that Ireland, the last of the receiving countries to ratify the convention, is doing so in a manner which differs from other countries. They maintain the manner in which it will be ratified will preclude adoptions from non-Hague and non-bilateral countries - in effect, denying some of the countries which need help to raise their standards the chance of partnership in that pursuit.

They point out that the Hague convention requires member states to operate to Hague convention standards but does not preclude adoption from non-Hague states. They asked why the Government proposes to ratify the convention in this way. They maintain Ireland needs to follow suit with other countries and ratify the convention in a manner which allows adoption from countries which are not Hague ratified but which meet Hague convention standards.

The negotiation of new bilateral agreements with countries such as Russia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, etc., is also of paramount importance to these prospective adoptive parents. They want to know when the Minister will deliver a decision on a new bilateral agreement with Vietnam after the publication of the ISS report. That report came out recently and I will return to it in a moment.

They point out that for some years, Russia, Vietnam and Ethiopia have been the main countries Irish couples have adopted from and they maintain the system has worked very well up to now. They maintain the agreements with these countries need to be progressed as a matter of urgency. They also recognise the progression of legislation through the House can be quite lengthy and that in the interim, it is essential that new bilateral agreements are put in place to ensure inter-country adoptions can continue from this country.

As the Minister of State and Members realise, this is a very sensitive issue. I am sure that for people who find themselves in a situation where they cannot have children of their own and feel they need to adopt, it is extremely sensitive, personal and traumatic. They point out that the waiting times to get clearance for adoption, get a place on a preparation course and start the whole process can be up to three years. They maintain it can go on for six years or more. They worry about couples nearing the cut off age limit. People go through such a long process of preparation and if they reach the cut off age limit, because of the delays, they could end up being denied the opportunity to give a child a loving home. They want to stress that needs to be avoided at all costs.

We are talking about speeding up the processes in place until now in order that decisions can be made earlier. That does not mean that standards drop but this needs to be addressed. I do not see why it takes so long for clearance to be given to people. They maintain that the Government needs to understand the human element to the issue. They state the majority of couples in their situation travel a long and very difficult road through infertility, loss and continuous disappointment to reach that point and they want the Government's support.

Many couples have similar concerns. Having read UNICEF's International Social Services adoption report, it is clear there are serious problems in the Vietnamese adoption system. I am sure this will come as a huge shock to many people. Why was this not brought to the fore before now? Many people were going through the process in Vietnam without being warned that there were issues. They are now in limbo which is extremely traumatic.

I am disturbed by certain charges, including what is described as "humanitarian aid". The conduct and practices of certain agencies have been very disturbing. The Government should have regulated this properly from the start. I understand a review committee was supposed to be put in place to oversee the agreement and identify and solve any problems. Perhaps the Minister of State will address this. Deputy Shatter has been asking questions about this for quite some time. He also asked that the deliberations of, and the documentation relating to, this review committee be made public in order that we can all see what went on. We could ask why alarm bells did not ring among the review committee. Was the Government not aware of the allegations made?

The voice of the child is quite important where adoption is concerned and, indeed, at all times. Today a report from the Dublin archdiocese will show the way children in our State were neglected in the past. We have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. Barnardos has raised the issue of post-adoption services, tracing legislation and so on. There are issues about closed and open registers which may need to be addressed in regard to information being made available to natural family members. That is extremely sensitive and important. This is a very complex area. When one really starts to delve into it, one sees that it is not straightforward.

I raise an issue Deputy Naughten has raised for quite some time. The Hague convention refers to missing children. I am very disturbed that so many children who came here from outside the State have gone missing from the care of the HSE. This is an awful scandal and I would like some Minister to make a statement on it and tell us exactly what happened.

For some time I have been calling for a register of guardianship. Perhaps the Minister of State might consider this. When a couple have a child and are not married, unless the mother agrees to the father becoming a guardian of the child, he cannot do so. Even if the mother agrees to do so and a certificate of guardianship is made available to the father and he becomes a guardian of the child, that certificate is simply a sheet of paper. If it is lost, damaged or destroyed, there is no central register or record of his guardianship. I do not understand why that is the case. The Minister of State might indicate the position. I have raised this matter here down through the years. If something happens to the mother and the father has lost the certificate, what is the position? Fathers are concerned about this issue. A register of guardianship should be provided. It would be a simple matter to provide such a register, which would be similar to the register of births, marriages and deaths. It could be provided as a central register and a person who wishes to obtain a certificate of guardianship at a later stage could do so in the same way as a person could obtain a birth certificate. There may be a good reason such a register does not exist. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would let me know, when replying or by letter, why that is the case. I would like to be enlightened about this.

I welcome the Bill and appreciate it is complex. We will have a detailed debate on it on Committee Stage. An important aspect of it is that it gives effect to the Hague convention, which seeks to establish safeguards to ensure inter-country adoptions take place in the best interests of the child and with respect to his or her fundamental rights as recognised in international law. Another objective of the convention is to establish a system of co-operation among contracting states to ensure that those safeguards are respected and thereby prevent the abduction, the sale of, or traffic in children, which is a major issue, and to secure the recognition in contracting states of adoptions made in accordance with the convention. These are serious, weighty and complex matters. I wish the Minister of State well in his work on the legislation as I do all the spokespersons.

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