Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I support the amendment. The Minister of State must explain to this House what exactly he is trying to do. Is he, through his inaction, having not personally visited Vietnam to sort out this problem, trying to close forever Vietnam to Irish adoptive families?

My understanding, having been in contact with a couple who spent last Friday in Vietnam with the deputy director, is that the Minister of State was fully aware of the need to put in place a draft bilateral agreement with the Vietnamese Government prior to last November in order that it could be put through Parliament. The Minister of State was warned of what would happen if this was not done. Currently, 24 families involved in prospective adoptions are held up in Vietnam. Another 251 with eligibility to adopt status are registered with Helping Hands in Cork.

Perhaps the Minister of State will answer the following questions in the context of the amendment. Why has he not shown his commitment to this issue by travelling to Vietnam, sitting down and breaking bread with the Vietnamese, to renegotiate this bilateral agreement for the sake of Irish families and the babies in the orphanages? Can the Minister of State, if he is genuinely sincere about addressing this issue, give us a concrete indication, in terms of time, of when the new agreement will be in place? Is it possible to negotiate an extension of the original agreement pending the putting in place of the new agreement? If we enact this legislation, will it negatively impact on the bilateral agreement if not concluded?

The following was said to me by a family:

We have endured so much in terms of setbacks and infertility and HSE waiting lists. We are five years on this adoption road and are registered with the agency Helping Hands for 51 weeks. We should have received our referral two weeks ago but due to the Minister's inaction we are now in limbo. We need answers in terms of timeframe and contingency for those with the dossiers already in Vietnam and those, like ourselves, held up in Cork.

This is a human crisis for these families. It is an appalling way to leave them. I plead with the Minister of State to provide reassurance for these people and to respond to the questions I have asked. As I told all the families concerned last week by e-mail, the matter is in the hands of the Minister of State. All we can do is make proposals in regard to what can be done and highlight the misery families are suffering. I appeal to the Minster of State to answer my questions.