Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)

I thank the Minister and the House for the opportunity to speak on this important issue, which is close to my heart, having two adopted sisters, one from Ireland and one from Romania who is 21 years of age and would have been one of the first intercountry adoptions.

I wish to speak on the issues mentioned by Deputies Daly and Humphreys, that is, how we can protect the rights of the child. The last thing any adoptive parent wants is to upset the birth mother. They have suffered enough anguish not being able to have a child of their own. The decision to adopt is not easily made. They know the hurt that can be caused and the disappointment that is felt by not being able to have their own birth family. They would not want a child given to them, which I have no doubt they would love and rear and give every opportunity, knowing that the birth mother in the country of origin has been led up the garden path. We have heard harrowing stories of young women in Mexico who were bribed with flashy prams. They were told they would be given the money to buy a new pram and all the new things that any new mother wants to provide for her child and that they would use the children for photo shoots. The Irish parents were lured into thinking they were having an adoption. When the mother did not consent to the adoption they were told they had to repay €12,000, €3,000 or whatever amount - an enormous amount of money for those living well below the poverty line in Mexico.

Deputy Daly made a good point when she said we have to look at the circumstances and the country of origin of the children. The last thing any prospective adoptive parent wants is that they are somehow keeping the birth mother from their child because we have a torrid history of exporting children to other countries for adoption.

There is a lack of services post adoption. Barnardos is the only service available to parents post adoption. Much of the emphasis is on the process, which is worthwhile in terms of preparation, the assessment of parents for suitability and the placement of the child. Following on from that one is very much on one's own.

An intercountry adoption can sometimes raise issues for the child and the parents that are unexpected, such as cultural issues or, perhaps, behavioural issues. That is perfectly understandable given the major change because some of the children can be three and four years of age before being adopted. There is a severe lack of services for parents and children in terms of making a successful and happy transition for the child and the parents.

In the next couple of weeks HIQA will publish its guidelines on social work practice. I take this opportunity to ask that those guidelines be merged with Children First and other guidelines published by the Department in recent weeks in order that social workers who have a huge caseload and who, in the case of adoption and fostering, are trying to get on with the important work of assessing people, will not be asked to adhere to three sets of guidelines. It is important that standards are in place to ensure the procedures are rigorous and thorough and that unnecessary bureaucracy is cut out.

There have been many calls during the debate to speed up the process. It is important to take our time to ensure the children are placed with appropriate families. Fifteen months is not an extraordinarily long period to wait; in fact it is reasonable. It is a huge decision, not only for the parents and children they may already have in the home but for the child. The decision that will be taken in a 15 month period will affect the child for the rest of his or her life. No social worker or professional working in that area would be happy to allow an assessment go through in less than that time. Notwithstanding that, there are other issues that hold up the process unnecessarily. The assessment of families and prospective adoptive and foster parents must be rigorous to ensure children get the best opportunity that can be afforded to them.

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