Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

I acknowledge the importance of the Minister putting inter-country adoption on the Dáil agenda for statements and to allow Deputies across the House to contribute and discuss the issue. There are not many parishes throughout the country where there are not families with parents who have adopted, are in the process of adopting or who wish to adopt. As all speakers have acknowledged, the recent past has been a very stressful time for many of those families who were in the process of carrying out adoptions when agreements, with Vietnam in particular, were stopped.

I welcome that the Vietnamese authorities are to make a return visit to Ireland in the near future when the Minister hopes to sign agreements with them. She outlined the process required to achieve that. I realise it can be difficult to put a timeline on this process but can the Minister outline when she believes adoptions can start again with Vietnam? This is particularly relevant for those prospective parents who were well along in the process of adoption when the arrangements were stopped. When can they expect to have adoptions processed and finalised? For many, the limbo of not knowing is very difficult, and if it is possible to give a timeline, it would be helpful.

See this speech in context