Derek McDowell (Labour)

This amendment is of some importance. Until a few years ago, the process of foreign adoption was relatively swift, and in some countries too swift. The Irish authorities have been to the fore in insisting the procedures in countries such as Russia and China, for example, are brought more in line with what we regard as being acceptable. As the Minister well knows, Irish law is quite rigid on this matter in that they have to be broadly similar processes, for example on issues such as finality. One of the results of this is that there are now lengthy processes in place for couples who want to adopt a child in parts of the former Soviet Union, which can easily entail them staying there for a week or two, and frequently more than once. We know well the difficulties in getting by the clearance processes operated by our health boards, and the additional trauma that is imposed by having to stay in fairly inhospitable parts of the world. The least we can do is offer this measure of legislative support to those individuals, ensuring they do not face additional difficulty in getting time off work and so on. I do not suppose it is terribly relevant but I agree with Senator Terry when she says it will not be abused. Very often children are adopted in countries where one would not choose to go on holiday, for example, Siberia or parts of China——