Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for the opportunity to raise the issue of inter-country adoptions between Ireland and Ethiopia. I refer to the difficulty being experienced by people who want to adopt children from Ethiopia because of the absence of a bilateral agreement. The enactment of recent legislation in the area, while, by and large welcome, has effectively made it impossible for Irish couples to adopt Ethiopian children. This not only poses obvious problems for first-time or prospective parents seeking to adopt from Ethiopia but it also means that Irish couples who have previously adopted an Ethiopian child and who may want to expand their family will not be in a position to adopt a second child from that country. They are in a difficult space.

In this context, I call on the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to review this situation and specifically to begin negotiations with the Irish Ethiopian Adoption Organisation with a clear view to establishing a bilateral agreement between both countries. Ireland has a positive history of adoption from Ethiopia going back over 20 years.

The most recent figures indicate that between 250 and 300 adoptions of Ethiopian children by Irish parents have taken place during that period. There are now in the region of 7 million orphans in Ethiopia. Of that number, just over 3,000 Ethiopian orphans are currently the subject of intercountry adoptions.

We have a duty to reach out to Ethiopia, which has a population of 80 million people. We are facing into an extremely difficulty budget and our country is experiencing many economic and social problems. Our concerns pale into insignificance when one considers the problems relating to poor education provision, health, shelter, sanitation etc., with which Ethiopia must deal. The position in Ethiopia is not improving, it is getting worse. Only 17% of the Ethiopia is urbanised and the rate of youth unemployment there is worse than that which obtains anywhere else on the planet. More than 1 million people in Ethiopia have AIDS or HIV and the country has endured its own well-publicised share of civil conflict in the past.

As the Minister is aware, Ireland ratified the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions in 2010. The enacting legislation, the Adoption Act 2010, came into force on 1 November of last year. The Hague Convention establishes minimum standards for the protection of children and eliminates various abuses previously associated with the intercountry adoption process. In that context, the ratification of the convention and the accompanying legislation are to be warmly welcomed because they ensure that high standards and specifications are applied to the intercountry adoption process at all times. In addition, the best interests of the children involved are placed above all other considerations. Section 40 of the Adoption Act stipulates that, in respect of intercountry adoptions, only children from contracting states may be adopted by Irish couples. The only other avenue by means of which Irish couples may adopt children is if they come from a country that has a bilateral agreement with this State. That Ethiopia has limited resources means it has been unable to ratify the Hague Convention. As a result, and in order for adoptions to continue into Ireland from Ethiopia, a bilateral agreement between the two countries must, as required under the Adoption Act, be put in place.

It is important to point out that the Hague Convention allows for adoptions to countries which have not ratified the convention. As already stated, the Adoption Act 2010 allows for bilateral agreements with such countries. As far as I understand it, Ireland is the only country which has restricted adoptions to countries which have ratified the convention and which will not allow adoptions - carried out to Hague standards - from non-contracting states with bilateral agreements. Significantly, countries which have ratified the Hague Convention - the UK, Belgium, Norway, Sweden and Germany - facilitate adoptions from Ethiopia, despite the fact it has not yet ratified the convention. Furthermore, Australia has a bilateral agreement with Ethiopia. I am of the view that the position with regard to Australia could be mirrored in Ireland. While this country currently has no bilateral agreements, history shows that the now expired bilateral agreement with Vietnam was an exceptionally positive collaboration. As a result, there is no reason an equally productive link could not be established with Ethiopia.

It is worth noting that 80% of all intercountry adoptions worldwide are from countries which have not ratified the Hague Convention and 20% are from those which have ratified it. There are many families in Ireland which are, for one reason or another, seeking to adopt Ethiopian children but which are being prevented from doing so. There is an easy remedy to this situation. I call on the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to agree to a request from the Irish Ethiopian Adoption Organisation to have a meeting with her and to authorise the Adoption Authority of Ireland to commence negotiations with the Ethiopian authorities on establishing a bilateral agreement with Ireland.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am taking this matter, which is of great interest to many Members, on behalf of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I thank Deputy McCarthy for raising it.

There was a fundamental change to adoption in Ireland with the commencement of the Adoption Act 2010 and the coming into force of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoptions on 1 November of last year. In the context of intercountry adoption, Ireland has now signed and ratified the Hague Convention, which aims to promote the highest standards and best practice in intercountry adoption. The practice of intercountry adoption is not without risk. The Hague Convention seeks to minimise that risk, with those countries who are party to it working in collaboration in order to build confidence in the process in both sending and receiving countries.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland, AAI, is the central authority for this country with regard to intercountry adoption. As the Hague Convention is designed to ensure a minimum set of standards in respect of such adoption, the AAI as indicated that its first priority is to reach agreements on arrangements with other countries which have ratified the convention. Representatives of the AAI recently returned from the USA and intend to develop an administrative arrangement with that country in respect of intercountry adoption. In the coming weeks, these representatives also intend to visit Mexico and Vietnam in the context of entering into administrative arrangements with both jurisdictions. An arrangement with the latter will be dependent on the entering into force of the Hague Convention in Vietnam on 1 February 2012.

The Minister has been informed by the Irish Embassy in Addis Ababa - it is of assistance that we have an embassy there - that the Ethiopian Government is strongly committed to protecting the best interests of the child and that the ratification of the Hague Convention is an objective for it. While the Ethiopian authorities are supportive of the goal of Hague-compliance, it seems likely that it will take time for them to put in place arrangements to allow for their ratification of the convention. UNICEF is working closely with the Ethiopian authorities to support the development of enhanced policies and programmes in support of children.

As well as providing for the ratification of the convention, the Adoption Act also provides that we may, as Deputy McCarthy noted, enter into bilateral agreements with countries such as Ethiopia which have not ratified the Hague Convention. The negotiation of bilateral agreements on intercountry adoption with states which have not ratified the Hague Convention is governed by section 73 of the Adoption Act 2010, which states "the Authority, with the prior consent of the Minister, may enter into discussions with any non-contracting state concerning the possibility of the Government entering into a bilateral agreement with that State". The opening of negotiations on such a bilateral agreement would require an analysis of the current situation regarding adoptions in Ethiopia; issues regarding the compatibility of the laws between the two countries; and the plans of that jurisdiction vis-À-vis the Hague Convention.

In the context of Ethiopia, the AAI has given preliminary indications that certain issues - particularly those relating to the effect of Ethiopian adoptions in the context of the Adoption Act 2010 - which will require detailed consideration are likely to arise. It is also acknowledged that the adoption process is a tremendously emotional journey to which legal rigour must, in the best interests of the child and all other parties to an adoption, be applied. Add to this the period of change the Adoption Act 2010 has induced and the result is a very difficult and demanding landscape for prospective adoptive parents. There are few certainties or guarantees and, on occasion, governments in both sending and receiving countries may make decisions about what is in the best interests of children that will give rise to concerns on the part of prospective adoptive parents.

The Minister is extremely conscious that the AAI has a full work programme in the terms of Hague countries, as well as the important upcoming priority of engagement with Vietnam. In addition, the AAI and officials from the Department of Children and Youth Affairs will be undertaking exploratory meetings with the Russian authorities in the coming weeks. The AAI must also prioritise checks of legal compatibility with a wide range of jurisdictions in order to process applications for the recognition of the adoptions of children already adopted from abroad by Irish citizens. These are desktop reviews in respect of which legal advice is needed. They are urgently required in order to regulate the status of children already adopted.

The Minister has sought an update on Ethiopia from the AAI and the Irish Embassy in Addis Ababa to assess possible next steps vis-À-vis that jurisdiction. However, further action must have regard to the wider work programme of the AAI and its agreed priorities.

Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Burton, for taking this topical issue.

It is clear from her reply that there is a legislative framework which will allow the inter-country adoptions to take place, leaving aside the difficulties Ethiopia may be experiencing in ratifying the Hague Convention. There is a legislative framework and provision to allow us proceed with a bilateral agreement.

We have an embassy in Addis Ababa. I am happy to see that the Minister has sought an update, both from it and from the adoption authority but I have two specific requests. First, I urge the Minister concerned, Deputy Fitzgerald, to meet the Irish Ethiopian Adoption Association and resolve the remaining issues. Second, I urge her, as is only right and proper, to allow the bilateral agreement to take place so that we can promote families coming together and allow people in this country who want to adopt an Ethiopian baby the joy and happiness that such adoption will bring to their lives. It will also allow those who have already adopted children from that country to expand and develop their family unit.

We are living in difficult times but this is a good news story. It is a good story for children and for families. It is something that the Government needs to pursue with a considerable degree of enthusiasm, compassion and speed. The apparatus and legislative framework are in place. What we need is a political push. We have an embassy in Addis Ababa.

The Minister, Deputy Burton, spent a significant period of her life in the continent of Africa. She will be aware of the difficult social and economic issues challenging the livelihood of people in Ethiopia. I ask her to urge the Government and her colleague to pursue this issue.

I would respectfully ask that the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, would get back to me following the update that she has sought from the Irish Embassy in Ethiopia and having considered the possible next step. The framework is in place and we need to push it in that direction.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I will ask my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to give urgent consideration to the meeting Deputy McCarthy suggests with the Irish people interested in adopting from Ethiopia. As I stated in the detailed reply, there is much work ongoing arising from the entering into force of the 2010 Adoption Act. Also, Ireland has finally, after long years of discussion, signed up to the Hague Convention. That is very helpful.

I have been in Ethiopia where there are, unfortunately, a number of children in orphanages. Deputy McCarthy mentioned the figure of 3,000. Where a child would otherwise spend his or her childhood in an orphanage, there is a strong case for facilitating a good quality home to adoptive parents who would love and look after that child.

I, myself, was adopted. Of course, Ireland has a long history of adoption. In the 1950s, we had children going to America to be adopted in the period after the Second World War. We are not without our own history, including those children coming back subsequently to Ireland to look for their birth roots. It is important in this instance that we look at the interests of everybody, foremost of which are those of the child, including, as I stated, the issue of a child being in an institution such as an orphanage for all of his or her childhood as opposed to finding a loving home. The fact that we have an embassy in Ethiopia is helpful. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald to send Deputy McCarthy a report on the briefing that she gets from the embassy.

The Minister has done much positive work since she took up office. As a matter of interest, I received a table from officials from her Department outlining the numbers of registrations of adoptions from Ethiopia as follows: in 2011, 41; in 2010, 75; in 2009, 21; and in 2008, 26. There is a history. I am sure the Department will furnish Deputy McCarthy with the details of the non-Hague Convention adoptions from abroad. The total of non-Hague Convention adoptions, according to this table, were: so far in 2011, 135; and in 2010, 168.

Clearly, now that we have signed up to Hague Convention, adoption is still continuing. It is merely that the framework must meet the requirements of that convention and the sending country also must establish and meet fairly stringent requirements on its side. That is in the best interest of the child.

I will raise what Deputy McCarthy has said with the Minister.