Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Everyone agrees that the best interests of the child are paramount. There are still hundreds of thousands of Russian children in state care who could be adopted by an Irish family and given a second chance. We would not need a bilateral agreement but for the fact that Russia has not signed up to the Hague Convention. While I welcome the fact that the Minister is being clear and frank now, for the past four years families were given hope and led to believe that matters were progressing well. The Minister is now saying that it still is the aim of his Department to progress the issue, which is welcome, but has the Department set a target date for completion? My understanding, having spoken to representatives of the families, is that the Department received correspondence from Russia in October 2014, but that correspondence has not been responded to and nothing has happened for over 12 months.

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