Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

Since taking office, I have been trying to bring clarity to the area of inter-country adoption. That applies to Vietnam, Russia and Ethiopia - whichever countries we are talking about. For adoptions to take place between two countries, ideally both countries will have signed the Hague Convention; if not, there should be a bilateral agreement. Many Irish parents have already adopted from a range of countries, some of which do not have a bilateral agreement with us. Often, they are anxious to adopt again from the same country. However, the absence of bilateral agreements does make for some difficulties. What I wanted to ensure was that there was no drift and that parents would remain informed. This is why I have, in recent weeks, asked the AAI to send representatives to Florida, Russia, Ethiopia and Vietnam to try to achieve clarity with regard to those countries. We can comment on other countries another time.

With regard to the timescale, two issues must be dealt with before the adoption process can reopen: Vietnam must sign the Hague Convention, which it will do on 1 February, and Ireland needs to have accredited agencies to work there with the couples. My understanding is that both of those issues will be dealt with by 1 February. The contents of the administrative agreement have been agreed. There are some technical difficulties outstanding, but we believe they can be resolved in a number of weeks. The chairman of the AAI is confident they can be resolved fairly quickly.

Inter-country adoption between Ireland and Vietnam will begin to open up again, but I emphasise that because of our new Adoption Act, the standards that apply in the Hague Convention and the new procedures in Vietnam for domestic adoption, it is a different situation. When a child is available for adoption, the Vietnamese authorities must first check whether there are people in Vietnam who wish to adopt him or her, and that will be a priority. Children with special needs will not be in that position, however. The authorities inform me that families will be asked whether they would like to adopt a child with special needs directly, without the need for a domestic adoption procedure. The work there will relate mainly to intercountry adoption.

It is a changed situation. We will put more information up on the websites of both the Adoption Authority and the Department so parents will be as fully informed as possible. That is the best information I can give the Deputy at this point.

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