Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

At a human level I share the Senators' sense of the deep hurt and frustration expressed by all the people who have been sending e-mails to me and the other Members of these Houses. At a human level one cannot avoid empathising with the situation Senator Healy Eames mentioned. Many parents have come through a very long process involving attempted family formation followed by, in my view, prolonged and protracted HSE processes regarding suitability and eligibility. I have met many prospective adoptive parents in my clinics in recent weeks. The HSE encourages parents to try to bond with the child before even having a referral in order to create a link with the child. That link is perceived to be broken by the fact the agreement with Vietnam has expired.

I will make a short statement to the House. I would like to reiterate again my personal commitment and the Government's commitment to putting in place new bilateral international adoption agreements with Vietnam and Russia. I am very aware of the anxiety being experienced by applicants and their wider families. The pain so clearly articulated leaves me in no doubt about the sensitivity of the issue. The steps we are taking are not intended to cause unnecessary angst and frustration. We are engaged in a process that seeks to strengthen the protection of children in inter-country adoption. At every opportunity I have communicated updates to prospective adoptive parents and their representative groups on these matters and I have committed to continuing with this process.

Against this background my office is continuing to work to create the appropriate legislative, policy and administrative frameworks to ensure a well regulated regime of adoption. Our aim is to support and protect prospective parents and even more importantly the children for whom adoption services are devised and provided.

The Adoption Bill, which includes the regime of the Hague Convention, provides an assurance for individual children, their families and the State that appropriate procedures have been followed and that the adoption was effected in the best interests of the child. As such, it is our intention that all inter-country adoptions will meet the standards of the Hague Convention. This is the principle underpinning the negotiations with Vietnam and indeed negotiations with other countries in the context of inter-country adoptions. Simply put, I am striving to achieve, for all adoptions, the same standard we expect to apply to the adoption of an Irish child.

A core principle of the Adoption Bill and the Hague Convention is that inter-country adoption should be child centred, that is, in all stages of the process the child's interests must be paramount. The Hague Convention, which is given the force of law in this Bill, puts in place the equivalent of a contract between states to regulate the standards that will apply in each jurisdiction. Its purpose is to safeguard that acceptable standards are being applied in other countries, over which we have no jurisdiction. When countries have not ratified the Hague Convention, a bilateral agreement is required to be entered into to enable adoptions to be recognised in this country. The standards required under any such agreement should mirror the standards required by the Hague Convention.

As Senators know, the Government is working towards securing a strengthened agreement with Vietnam. In light of concerns raised by other countries which emerged during 2008, the Government decided it was necessary to seek a strengthening of the existing agreement with Vietnam. I emphasise that when we visited in November 2008 we were able to confirm and establish that our arrangements with Vietnam were very favourable because we were adopting through a unique Irish mediation agency, Helping Hands. We were also able to establish that we were generally adopting relinquished rather than abandoned children, which gave that extra reassurance in terms of consents. It was on this basis that the Government decided to pursue a new agreement with Vietnam. With the publication of the Adoption Bill 2009, it was also considered necessary to ensure that both the content of a new agreement and its implementation would meet the minimum standards set out in that Bill and under the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Inter-Country Adoption.

There has been ongoing dialogue with the Vietnamese authorities with the focus on achieving the requisite strengthening of procedures for the protection of children. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a sovereign state and the progress that can be made relies on the co-operation and goodwill of that state. This is a sensitive issue and the Government, despite its aspirations, must be, of course, respectful of the views and decisions made by the Government of Vietnam. It is my intention to continue with these discussions with a view to bringing them to a conclusion at the earliest possible date. It is anticipated that further proposals to advance the discussions will be made to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the coming week. I am also hopeful the Vietnamese side will be in a position to revert with its proposals shortly. I do not wish to speculate on the timeframe or the outcome for these negotiations. There has been a high level of engagement on both sides and it is clear from progress so far that there is a willingness on both sides to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion.

As regards the Russian Federation, my officials and their colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs have since April 2008, been in consultation with regard to inter-country adoption in that jurisdiction. This has included contacts with the Irish Embassy in Moscow and legal and other preparatory work on the possibility of a draft agreement between the two countries. A meeting between officials of my Department and the Russian Embassy in Dublin took place last week. I will continue to advance this matter with the assistance of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Martin, and his officials both here and in Moscow as quickly as possible. A number of steps are now in train to advance to formal discussions on a bilateral agreement between the two countries.

Officials have also specifically raised the issue of the so-called "black listing" because of alleged outstanding post-adoption reports. The Russian side has provided a list of outstanding reports. The list produced by the Russian Ministry of Education is currently being validated by the embassy. In the meantime, I have asked the relevant authorities to assist me in pursuing resolution of this issue as a matter of urgency. Officials have also assured the Russian side of the importance we attach to resolving the matter. Overall, it must be acknowledged that another sovereign government is party to all negotiations on inter-country adoptions and consequently it would be unwise and inappropriate to attempt to air the issues or negotiate these very sensitive matters in the public domain as it might jeopardise the prospects of concluding any new agreements. For that reason, further details on negotiations are not being made available at this time. Furthermore, it also is the case that speculation on either the nature of the issues or the degree of progress being made is unhelpful and may prove misleading and distressing to those applicants who currently are waiting to adopt. In this regard, I would greatly appreciate Members' forbearance in respect of these negotiations and ask them to accept I am doing my utmost to bring both of these processes to a successful conclusion in the best interest of children.

I wish to state unequivocally that the Government is also firmly committed to ensuring that arrangements between Ireland and Vietnam, Russia and any other country where Irish people are adopting children protect and promote the best interests of the children, their families and prospective adoptive parents.

I am of course aware that I have been criticised regarding the handling of the situation in Vietnam. The easy option would be to accede to the pressure being generated from all sides. However, in conscience, I cannot contemplate advising the Government to enter into any bilateral agreement that does not provide for the minimum standards to protect children who are to be adopted by Irish families. I must reiterate the child's best interests are the fundamental principle that supports the development of a national child care and protection system as well as an ethical, child-centred approach to inter-country adoption. Inter-country adoption does not occur in a vacuum but across jurisdictions and spans complex areas of family law, child protection and welfare. It must be legislated for, managed and understood in that context. It requires a shared responsibility and respect between states to ensure the best ethical practices to support the child's best interests and to safeguard against abduction, sale or trafficking of children.

Ireland has a strong tradition of inter-country adoption and was once a so-called "sending country". My aim is to support the continuance of that tradition by assuring prospective adopters, the countries of origin of prospective adoptees, the birth families of the children and, looking into the future, the children themselves, that inter-country adoption was undertaken in the best interests of the child to the required standard with adequate safeguards and protections for all concerned. My role, as Minister of State with responsibility for children, is to provide for the legislative, policy and system frameworks to achieve that aim.

In conclusion, some colleagues from the Government side of the House have impressed on me a principle that I accept, namely, that at the earliest possible opportunity, I will travel to Vietnam to assist in whatever way I can. In hindsight, people have stated that I should have gone with one of the earlier delegations and perhaps that is the case. However, having discussed this matter with my colleagues and in the hope it will be of some consolation or satisfaction to some of the associations concerned, I undertake to travel to Vietnam as soon as would be useful to the process that is being undertaken at present.