Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Efforts are ongoing within my Department in relation to a bilateral agreement on inter-country adoption between Ireland and the Russian Federation. A delegation of Russian officials travelled to Ireland in October 2013 for further discussions on a bilateral agreement on inter-country adoption between both countries. The meeting was very positive and detailed discussions took place between the Russian officials and officials from my Department, as well as the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Health Service Executive.

In order to explore the potential for agreement of specific areas addressed in the discussions, my Department subsequently undertook work on a revised draft wording which was forwarded to the Russian authorities in February of this year. In transmitting these revisions it was suggested that should these revisions be acceptable to the Russian Federation, it would be useful for both sides to meet again for further discussions.

The Russian Ministry of Education and Science has advised the Irish embassy in Moscow that all proposed adoption agreements are currently on hold while the Russian Government considers proposals in relation to how it deals with adoption agreements in general. It is understood that the Russian supreme court recently made recommendations regarding adoption agreements and these are being considered by the Russian Government. It is hoped that following the Russian Government's consideration of these matters, it will be in a position to examine and respond to these proposals as furnished.

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