Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The Government should publicly apologise for the indefensible and incompetent manner in which it has dealt with the issue of Vietnamese adoptions. It has neither acted in the best interests of children nor in the interests of prospective Irish adopters. The Minister of State with responsibility for children has serious questions to answer.

For five years there was a bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam. By 31 December 2008, 636 adoptions effected in Vietnam by Irish adopters had been recognised by the Adoption Board. At the start of 2009 there were an estimated 330 prospective adopters declared suitable to adopt by our Adoption Board who expected to adopt in Vietnam and who were assessed for adoption on the assumption that they would do so. For five years it was known that the bilateral agreement would terminate by 1 May 2009. However, the Government gave no warning or notice to the hundreds of people under adoption assessment by the HSE who intended to adopt in Vietnam that, following their obtaining a declaration of eligibility and suitability to adoption from our Adoption Board, this State would create any difficulty in their completing such adoptions.

The expired bilateral agreement contained provision for the establishment of a review group composed of Irish and Vietnamese officials to monitor the workings of the bilateral agreement and the adoption process in Vietnam involving Irish adoption applicants. During the five years of the agreement's operation no report was ever published by this group warning of any difficulties. It is clear that up to March 2009 the Government intended to put in place a new bilateral agreement with Vietnam. The Minister of State with responsibility for children informed this House that at the beginning of March a new proposed draft agreement was forwarded by the Government to the Vietnamese authorities. Vietnam received the new draft agreement approximately seven weeks before the expiration of the original agreement and at that stage it was understood that the main difficulty related to the short period of time available to put in place a new agreement before 1 May 2009. It was only in August 2009 that the Minister made known the fact that, as a result of two international reports on Vietnamese adoptions, one of which was a draft report prepared by International Social Services, questions were being asked about the probity of the Vietnamese adoption process. It took six months from the receipt by the Minister of State of the draft ISS report to announce a Government decision not to enter into any further bilateral agreement on adoption with Vietnam.

The Minister of State with responsibility for children should publicly answer the following questions. In his statement issued last Thursday, 14 January, he stated: "When any Government enters into a bilateral International Adoption Agreement, there is an expectation that the Government has satisfied itself that current policies and practices in the country of origin are robust." What steps did the Government take to so be satisfied prior to entering into the bilateral adoption agreement which expired on 1 May 2009 and prior to furnishing to Vietnam a new proposed draft bilateral agreement in March 2009?

During the currency of the expired bilateral agreement, what action, if any, was taken by representatives of this State appointed to the Ireland-Vietnam review group to ensure that Vietnamese adoption practices met appropriate standards and what reports, if any, on this issue were made to the Minister of State with responsibility for children or his predecessors? Why has the Minister of State with responsibility for children refused to publish full details of meetings held by the review group and the reports, if any, furnished by it to him and the Department for Health and Children and why has the Department refused to make available relevant information and documentation when sought by me under the Freedom of Information Act?

The Minister is only now critical of the link between the provision of humanitarian aid in conjunction with adoption services by an adoption agency licensed by this State to assist Irish applicants in effecting Vietnamese adoptions. Why is this the case when the expired bilateral agreement, under which the agency operated, expressly envisaged the provision of such humanitarian aid and rendered it impossible for Irish applicants to effect Vietnamese adoptions without making a specific humanitarian aid payment?

What consideration, if any, was given by the review group during the lifetime of the expired agreement to any difficulties arising as a consequence of the link between humanitarian aid and adoption services? Why did the Minister for Children give assurances to 20 couples at an advanced stage in the Vietnamese adoption process after 1 May 2009 that satisfactory arrangements would be made to facilitate them completing Vietnamese adoptions and why have no such arrangements been made? As a result of publication of the ISS report, has Vietnam refused to continue negotiations on the conclusion of a new bilateral agreement with this State or has the Government simply decided to suspend indefinitely negotiations on a new agreement? What consideration, if any, did the Government give to negotiating a new agreement incorporating provisions to address any concerns resulting from the ISS report and the creation of structures to properly and transparently monitor the workings of such agreement?

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