Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank all the speakers for their contributions this afternoon, which were very well informed and demonstrate everybody's great interest in the protection of children. This Bill, when enacted, will provide much greater protection for children in the context of domestic and inter-country adoptions. It will provide a very clear framework for practitioners and parents so our position in this area will be very clear. There were many common themes in the contributions, reflecting many of the issues that have been raised in the past few months. There will be a prolonged debate on this issue. It is complex legislation and I thank the people in my office who put a huge amount of work into it — I will not name anybody in particular.

While there was an issue about delay, we benefited from the fact that we are only bringing in the Bill now because we have been able to learn from the operation of the Hague Convention in other countries. The decision was taken after signing the Hague Convention and after widescale public consultation that we would repeal existing legislation and consolidate it into one piece of legislation. That further prolonged the period in which this legislation was prepared. It was not intended to be delayed to this extent, but now that we have it, it will benefit the country very considerably.

The issue of waiting times for assessment for eligibility and suitability for prospective adoptive parents was raised several times. It is a long process, but many Senators acknowledge that there is no reason it should not be so. Most parents with an interest in adoption, or who are already involved in the process, to whom I spoke concede that it should be rigorous and should examine all aspects of parenting skills because it is a major decision for them to embark on and for the State to endorse. Nevertheless, there are obvious and unnecessary delays. I have met the HSE on this matter on a number of occasions and it has engaged with my office in the past few years. In 2007 a review of the process was commenced and a senior HSE manager is in the process of trying to fine-tune the process of adoption assessment with a view to shortening that time. There is the issue that we are still dealing with the same social workers who have major obligations in other areas. We are limited in our resources and there are obviously gaps in our social services. It is natural that where there are children at risk and there is a build-up of cases, assessments for adoptions will go to the end of the queue. We have to be honest about that but we can improve processes.

Some Senators raised the issue of age. While there is no upper age limit in the Bill, there is a requirement that applicants be in good health and capable of providing for the child's welfare throughout the child's childhood. That creates an upper age limit, albeit a notional one. While there is no specific age limit, age will be a factor in the assessment of prospective adoptive parents. The issue of post-adoption services was raised. In the assessment process parents are provided with much information and support. That provides many of the skills necessary for the challenges involved in adopting a child. In the normal course of events adopted children are treated the same as any other child and are able to avail of the same protections envisaged in the Child Care Act 1991. Adopted children will be afforded the same protections as any other child by the HSE for problems they may encounter.

Senator Bacik raised the issue of religion. She may have misread it, but the reference to religion does not require the same religion but that if all involved are not of the same religion, those consenting to the adoption are aware of the religion of the prospective adopters. This has changed a lot from the original provisions of the 1952 Act.

Senator Corrigan raised the issue of foster children. Foster parents have accrued extra rights in the past few years regarding medical consents, the right to get passports and gift tax, which have improved their positions. As the Senator mentioned, the Oireachtas joint committee examining the constitutional position of children will report on this very soon and, depending on the outcome, I hope to consider those findings with a view to how we deal with the legislation in the future.

The issue of unaccompanied minors is very serious, although not for this Bill in particular. However, I am very conscious of it and we are working with the Health Service Executive. We should treat unaccompanied minors the same as we treat children born in this country and ensure that, as Sister Stanislaus Kennedy said in a very interesting newspaper article, a lost child is not like a lost set of keys. There is an administrative system in place for information and tracing, and it is supervised by the Adoption Board. It has improved considerably in the past few years and some of the stories about the sensitive issue of reunification told today, particularly by Senator Quinn, are very emotive. They underline the great importance of providing a rigorous registration system and a proper tracing system that is sensitive to the needs of the natural parents and the adopted children. I have had occasion to meet the Adopted People's Association and address some of their concerns.

The International Adoption Association has raised the grandfather clause with me directly. I am not inclined to include this in the Bill for the reason it would be a dilution of the legislation. The Bill requires us to comply with Hague Convention standards and if a country is not in compliance with those standards, I believe it is sufficient reason not to allow or encourage adoption from that country. It would be unfair to allow individuals to adopt from a country simply because they have adopted from there previously, especially in respect of new prospective adopters who would not be afforded the same opportunity.

Some speakers spoke about open adoption. This is the concept that the natural parents still enjoy some rights in the country of origin. Open adoption raises issues about the status of adoptive families vis-À-vis all families. There are constitutional issues here which do not arise in other jurisdictions about the family, given the provisions in our Constitution in that regard.

Many speakers were concerned about bilateral agreements. To update the House, we are continuing to work on bilateral agreements with both Russia and Ethiopia, and we hope to conclude them before this Bill is enacted. However, when dealing with another country one is dealing with another set of laws in another jurisdiction so we cannot force an agreement on the country. That creates delay. Nevertheless, we are definitely making progress in those two countries. We will also shortly present a draft agreement to the Vietnamese Government. As I indicated before Christmas, the Government is inclined to try to have a new bilateral agreement with Vietnam as soon as possible. If we can have it in place before the end of April, when the existing agreement lapses, it will be a great result. My office is in consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs to try to achieve that.

The right of same-sex couples to adopt is a sensitive issue. Adoption is a right that is afforded to children, and the right of a child to a family is at the core of adoption legislation. There is also a right in my view which must be considered, that of same-sex couples. Their rights need to be explored. The Civil Partnership Bill is the forum at present for the extension of those rights. I am an extremely strong supporter of those rights but this Bill is not the appropriate forum for that. I believe their rights will be visited on another occasion but at present we are in a legislative process with the Civil Partnership Bill. This will afford greater rights to same-sex couples, and rightly so.

The Adoption Bill is clear. It states that if more than one person is to adopt, they must be married to each other. Unmarried, heterosexual couples and homosexual couples are treated in the same way in that they are not allowed to adopt in this country. Single people may adopt in circumstances where they satisfy the Adoption Board about eligibility and suitability. I accept this is a sensitive area and core issue. It is a demonstration of the type of society we wish to live in, and I believe it is something we will continue to debate in the future.

I commend the Bill to the House and thank the speakers for their interesting contributions. I look forward to Committee Stage, when we will explore the nuances of the Bill.