Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I accept the futility of continuing with this discussion. Although I do not think we will ever see an additional Bill, will the Minister of State let us know the timeframe for producing it? Will we see it next October or December or what priority has it in comparison to the other legislation we expect on the important issues of vetting and child protection guidelines? Can he give us a timeline for the legislation?

I would like to raise another issue that is relevant to post placement services. Couples who have declarations of suitability who want to adopt in Russia have experienced difficulty because the Russian authorities have indicated they are closing down adoptions in Russia by prospective Irish adopters because of the failure to furnish the Russian authorities with post adoption reports on how children have been getting on with their new families. Some of the problems and delays in this regard related to the HSE because it did not have a statutory obligation to provide these reports. There have been reports that the Russian authorities were preventing adoptions by other countries as well, including the United States, but that has been contradicted. It seems we are the country in difficulty. Many prospective adopters who hoped to adopt in Russia have had an obstacle placed in their way. There should be a statutory obligation to provide this post adoption service. In the context of dealing with post adoption services, will the Minister of State update the House as to what contact he has had with the Russian authorities and when he thinks individuals and couples who have been deemed suitable for intercountry adoption and who aspire to adopt in Russia will be allowed to proceed with such adoptions?

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