Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)

Like other Members, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is clearly a very emotional issue for everyone, but for the families involved, it is an all-consuming and life-determining matter. The Minister clearly has a huge interest in it. I accept Deputy Calleary's point, but it is welcome that the Government has given her a full Ministry in charge of looking after our children, who are without doubt the most important resource we have. I congratulate her on her recent visit to Vietnam and on the progress that has been made there. I also congratulate the Vietnamese.

I am member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and I know that the chairman of the committee, Deputy Breen, also attended with the Minister. I had the pleasure of discussing his trip with him. It is perhaps one of the hidden benefits of the committee work that is being done by some great public representatives on the ground, bringing their experience from this country to countries that have significantly fewer resources than we do, and then coming back and reporting to us on how things are going.

The Hague Convention comes into force in Vietnam shortly. That is partially what gives rise to the discussion of this issue today. All politicians encounter families that are involved in the adoption and fostering processes. We need to acknowledge what I would see as the two core principles of the Hague Convention. First, it should be in the best interests of the child to be adopted. Second, there needs to be parental consent. Our committee spent a number of months discussing the effectiveness of Irish aid, and we get to meet many of the NGOs that are working in developing countries around the world. There is no doubt that we have a magnificent network of organisations working on the ground. We may have lost a lot integrity in other areas, but the work of our NGOs abroad is one of the reasons Ireland is held in such high esteem. We need to try to use this network abroad to ensure that some of the aid we donate goes to determining that people are not forced into putting their children up for adoption for economic reasons.

I remember the big debate 20 years ago about adoptions from Romania. The issue moved to Vietnam two or three years ago, and recently we have seen disturbing reports coming from Mexico. We have a wealth of experience that perhaps is unwelcome but can be very helpful, because 20 years before Romania, we were on the other side of the adoptive process. Many Irish mothers and many Irish people ended up in other countries around the world through poor and bad practices of which we are now very critical in other countries. However, that reality gives us the bona fides in trying to help countries engage with the Hague Convention and putting the rights of children first, which everyone believes is the most important issue. That is not to say there cannot be many possibilities for children from the developing world to come to the developed world. There are still huge opportunities for Irish families to adopt from within the Hague agreement structure. We should use our experience and bona fides to go to other countries, not as a rich western country that is lecturing a country trying to adopt proper and fair procedures but as a country that has been there before and that can show empathy and act in the best interests of children.

I compliment the work that is being done by the Adoption Authority of Ireland. Its members show great compassion and I am sure they are very pleased that we now have a full Ministry that can develop this process for families that deserve the opportunity to adopt and live fulfilling lives with their children.

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