James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Deputy is saying. Mine is a small Department and we have a number of people who are skilled in this area who are engaged in a myriad of other tasks related to adoption. That is not to say that they are ignoring this issue, but they have the information and tracing Bill to deal with, which is currently in progress. Communication is taking place, as should be the case, but I will double check on that to make sure there is communication with the Russian Federation. The Deputy suggests setting timelines, but that is an impossibility when one is dealing with other people who have their own timelines. I am not saying what the Russian timelines are because I do not know, but I cannot with any degree of credibility give a timeline for resolution of this issue. We need the agreement of the Russian Federation before we can make any commitment in that regard.

See this speech in context