Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

How could such a system function practically? Adoptive parents will travel abroad for genuine reasons, but how could an employer control a system which allows an employee to travel anywhere in the world to examine adoption systems and see if he or she could adopt a baby? Such a system would be wide open to abuse and would be uncontrollable.

This is not a serious amendment. Next week we may be presented with a proposal to bring the rights of natural parents into line by obliging employers to give paid leave to people who want to go on conception holidays. The mind boggles. We must be practical. Until now, adoptive parents have had no paid time off.