Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I thank Deputies from across the House for facilitating the taking of the Bill. The Bill addresses inter-country adoption and specifically the concerns of some people who have been unable to continue with the process of adopting a child from Russia because of an amendment to Russian adoption legislation which took effect earlier this year.

The Adoption Act 2010 provides, inter alia, for inter-country adoptions between states that have ratified the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-Operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption. Ireland ratified the Hague Convention on 1 November 2010. While Russia has been a signatory to the Hague Convention since 1992, it has not ratified the Hague Convention. During the drafting of the 2010 Act, transitional measures were put in place to deal with the change from previous adoption legislation to the new 2010 Act. This measure, provided for in section 63 of the 2010 Act, allowed persons who held a valid declaration of eligibility and suitability before the commencement of the 2010 Act to continue the process of adoption from a non-Hague state for a maximum period of three years. Such applicants were thus afforded an additional three-year period to complete adoptions from non-Hague countries. The vast majority of adoptions that took place in Ireland were from non-Hague countries, particularly Russia and Ethiopia. They were required to have completed the process by 31 October 2013. By their nature, transitional provisions are time-limited and the Oireachtas considered that three years was a reasonable period of time to finalise an adoption that had been under way when the 2010 Act came into force.

Deputies have been in contact with me about a particular difficulty that has arisen with the expiry of the transitional provision provided for in section 63 of the 2010 Act in that a small number of people in the State could not finalise adoptions in Russia before their existing declarations of eligibility and suitability expired. Without a valid declaration, the adoption of a child cannot proceed. The situation arose this year because of an unexpected change in Russian adoption legislation, which extended the period that a child in Russia must be on the national adoption database before that child is eligible for inter-country adoption from six months to 12 months. One assumes that implementation of the subsidiarity principle was the underlying reason for the change in Russian adoption legislation. A core principle of the Hague Convention is the need to place a child within his or her family, community or country before the option of inter-country adoption is considered.

Since the amendment to Russian legislation and the ensuing consequences for a number of Irish people involved in the adoption process in Russia were brought to my attention, I have pursued extensive diplomatic efforts to endeavour to resolve the situation.

Applicants from other countries have also been affected and it was hoped it would be possible to achieve an administrative or legislative solution in Russia. However, despite my best efforts and those of my colleagues, it has not been possible to satisfactorily resolve the issue and the matter has now become urgent for those people whose declarations of eligibility and suitability expired on 31 October 2013 and who wish to finalise an adoption in Russia as a matter of urgency. The adoption of a child is always about the best interests of the child and nobody is by default entitled to adopt. As I have stated, the adoption of a child in Russia cannot proceed without a valid declaration.

In order to resolve this matter, I am today proposing that an amendment to the 2010 Act be made to extend the period of validity of a declaration of eligibility and suitability to allow those affected by the change in Russian legislation additional time to complete their adoptions. I propose to confine the amendment to persons who on 31 October 2013 held declarations of eligibility and suitability specific to the Russian Federation. The Adoption Authority of Ireland has informed my Department that 23 prospective adoptive parents held declarations of eligibility and suitability valid for adoption from the Russian Federation on 31 October 2013. I propose in this legislation that the period of validity of these declarations be extended to 31 October 2014. As I have stated, the proposed amendment to the 2010 Act is limited to declarations in respect of the Russian Federation and in all the circumstances I believe this is a necessary and appropriate amendment.

I thank my staff and those in the Office of the Attorney General for their advice on the Bill. Throughout the process of preparing this legislation my Department has been mindful of the State's obligations under the Hague Convention and our commitment to adhering to the standards of the convention. The Adoption Authority of Ireland does this on an ongoing basis. Implementation of the Adoption Act 2010 is evidence of the State's dedication to these standards and I reiterate Ireland's commitment to the Hague Convention. Implementation of the 2010 Act has meant that Ireland is in a better position to deal with the many complex issues that arise in intercountry adoptions. Deputies are aware of the many complex issues which have arisen since we passed that legislation, including the role of bilateral agreements which are extremely difficult to formalise and complete. Membership of the Hague Convention is a mechanism for improving standards and the State wants to ensure child-centred adoption is at the core of all the elements of the adoption process. We want to ensure the State continues to adhere to high standards in the adoption process.

I will now turn to the provisions of the Bill. Section 1 provides that a declaration of eligibility and suitability in respect of the Russian Federation issued to a prospective adoptive parent and which was valid on 31 October 2013 shall be extended from that date for a period of one year and shall expire on 31 October 2014. The section provides that any such declaration extended under this proposed legislation shall not be amended to specify any state other than the Russian Federation as the state to which the declaration applies.

Section 2 provides for the Short Title and citation. I have brought this amending Bill forward as a matter of urgency. I thank Deputies for their co-operation and commend the Bill to the House. I look forward to hearing the views of Deputies on the proposed legislation.

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