Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State has not addressed the problem and his amendment is more technical than substantive. I understood on Committee Stage we were at a point where it was agreed that where there were declarations of suitability in place, a foreign adoption would be recognised in the circumstances in which we currently recognise foreign adoptions under the 1991 Act. He has not addressed the arbitrariness of this as a transitional measure in the context of the unsatisfactory nature of the assessment process, the different timeframes that are there. He has not addressed the issue that I raised, frankly. In the circumstances, it would be my intention to press this amendment.

Will the Minister of State clarify whether Vietnam has agreed to facilitate the processing to conclusion of adoptions for the 20 couples who already had their declarations of suitability and were in the adoption process? The Minister of State remarked euphemistically that a mechanism has been found which the Attorney General is looking at to facilitate this process. Can the Minister of State tell the House what that mechanism is? That is not an unreasonable request.

The Minister of State referred to his amendment as resolving the problem of what has been referred to in brief as the grandfather clause but it does not resolve that difficulty at all because there are people who may have completed adoptions in foreign countries at the moment who do not yet have a declaration of suitability and will not have one when this Bill commences. Unfortunately, the Minister of State's amendment does not address their concerns.

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