Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and affording me the opportunity to update the House on this matter. The Adoption Bill 2009, which will give force of law to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, is continuing its progress through the Oireachtas and the debate on Second Stage is scheduled to resume on Thursday. A core principle of the Hague Convention, which represents the international standard for adoption, is that intercountry adoption should be child centred. The child's interests must be paramount throughout the adoption process. The legislation and specifically the regime of the Hague Convention is designed to provide an assurance for individual children, their families and the State, that appropriate procedures have been followed and that adoptions are effected in the best interests of the child. As such, it is our intention that all intercountry adoptions must meet the standards of the Hague Convention.

Against this background, and after serious deliberation, the Government decided on 13 January to suspend indefinitely negotiations on a new bilateral intercountry adoption agreement with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. As a result of this decision, all intercountry adoptions from Vietnam will be suspended until such time as the Adoption Bill 2009 has been enacted and both Ireland and Vietnam have ratified the provisions of the Hague Convention.

Having met with many individuals and representative groups throughout this process, I am fully aware of the great disappointment this decision has caused and will cause for those hoping to adopt from Vietnam. It is important to reiterate that this decision was not taken lightly and was based on information brought into the public domain by the Vietnamese Government in the first instance and subsequently by UNICEF with the co-operation of the Vietnamese Government. Serious questions regarding adoption practices in Vietnam were raised in these two recent reports. Such information cannot be ignored and the Government was obliged to act on foot of this information.

Of greatest concern is the question of whether the child is adoptable. The issues of consent and the exchange of fees were also raised. Where questions on these fundamental issues remain, it would be remiss of the Government to allow adoptions from Vietnam to continue. The Government has committed to providing technical assistance to the Vietnamese authorities in the area of child welfare and protection to help prepare the way for ratification of the Hague Convention should the Vietnamese wish to avail of such an offer. Based on my discussions with the Vietnamese authorities, I am confident that Vietnam will ratify the Hague Convention in the near future, at which time I would hope and expect adoptions to resume.

To state as Deputy Shatter has that the Government gave no warning to those hoping to adopt from Vietnam that a new bilateral agreement might not be put in place is not just wrong, it is most disingenuous. On several occasions in recent months in both Houses, I stated that real concerns had been raised in the context of intercountry adoption from Vietnam and these would have to be addressed before a new agreement could be entered into. When I shared a television studio with Deputy Shatter last October, I clearly explained the difficulties in putting in place a new bilateral agreement and said that there could be no certainty about the successful conclusion of the process.

Deputy Shatter contends that the Government was dilatory in dealing with the UNICEF ISS report. He claims the report was received last August and that it took the Government six months to act on it. I remind the Deputy that the report was finalised in late November. I said last October that I would await the finalisation of the report before making a recommendation to the Government. I did not think it was correct to make a decision on the basis of a draft report that could not be made available to the adoption community. The timeframe for the publication of the report was beyond the control of the Government. The time that elapsed between the circulation of the draft report and the publication of the final report is a matter for the ISS. To my mind, it involved dialogue with the Vietnamese Government and the embassies based on the ground in Hanoi.

Following the Government decision, I met representative groups last week to update them on the situation. I shared with them the contents of my statement prior to its circulation to the media. The Adoption Board has agreed arrangements for people who had hoped to adopt from Vietnam. All couples or individuals who possess a declaration of eligibility and suitability for Vietnam may select a new country from which to adopt, subject to submitting the usual change of country report to the Adoption Board. They may also retain their current place on the helping hands list for Vietnam, which is being maintained. In the event of Vietnam reopening, those on the Vietnamese waiting list whose declarations have not been used in the meantime to effect an adoption in another country will be in a position to proceed without delay, having regard to their position on the Vietnamese list. All couples or individuals who have a declaration of eligibility and suitability for Vietnam but have sought to change in recent months will be in a position to avail of the foregoing arrangements.

At all stages of the process, which has caused great anxiety and ultimately disappointment for couples or individuals hoping to adopt from Vietnam, I have consulted the adoption community and informed them of my actions. I have no difficulty in standing before this House and accounting in full for the decisions I have made. I suggest that Deputies on all sides should continue to have regard to the sensitivity of the matter at hand and respect the position of children who have been adopted into this country from Vietnam in recent years. We all have a responsibility to these children. The status of their adoptions is not in question. The adoptions have gone through a lengthy legal process and have been entered into the register of foreign adoptions. The Government must do its best to ensure that the interests of any child being adopted by Irish citizens are promoted and protected. Deputy Shatter mentioned that 20 adoptions were at an advanced stage when negotiations were suspended. It continues to be the position of the Government that it will try to facilitate the finalisation of such adoptions, subject to the serious legal difficulties that apply.

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