Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, a good evening. In light of the current block on Russian adoptions there is a need for the Minister to give a timeline by which the block can be lifted so adoptions with Russia can recommence. I tabled the adjournment motion three weeks ago and it has taken until now for it to be heard. On that day I received the following information from a family:

Today we went to the Russian ministry of education, having gone there last Monday also. We were turned away, as once again Ireland is blacklisted due to the HSE not doing its job and enforcing the agreement it made with the Russians. [That agreement was to the effect that once a child was adopted into this country from Russia that the Minister and the Health Service Executive agreed to provide post-placement records on the child to the Russian adoption agency. That was a fair agreement and everyone knew where he or she stood.] So once again we are denied a chance to form a family and one less child is removed from institutional care. Does anyone in the government understand this ? Do they care?

Over time, material on the matter has appeared in the newspapers but the HSE denies it has any role. The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for children and young people, Deputy Barry Andrews, stated that again in The Irish Times but he is not correct. All prospective adoptive parents seeking to adopt a child from Russia must sign an agreement in advance of being allowed to do so to the effect that they will comply with providing a post-placement report. In other words, the HSE would not process an application and the Adoption Board would not issue a declaration of fitness to adopt without an agreement on a post-placement report being signed. However, the lack of provision of those reports by the Adoption Board and the HSE are blocking adoptions from Russia. Whatever about the legality of the matter, the practical effect is that without the provision of those reports no adoption will be possible. Why is the Adoption Board and the HSE saying to some people that there is no agreement, to others that there is one but it is not binding, and to others still that there is an agreement, which is binding, but it is the parents who are at fault? It is all very confusing.

The agreement was made by the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney, prior to the establishment of a separate office of Minister for children. Why is she now refusing to take any responsibility whatsoever for the issue? She is still Minister for Health and Children. At a meeting on 13 April officials from the Russian Federal Ministry of Education intimated that they required a post-placement report but that they did not require one from the HSE. They outlined that an independent social worker or an independent organisation such as PACT would be able to provide such reports. The key requirement is that the report would be provided by someone legally competent to supervise inter-country adoption, which includes all social workers. That arrangement could be certified in law or in regulations to the effect that the person so doing would take responsibility for forwarding the post-placement reports to Russia.

In other words, it is possible to create a parallel track to the HSE, which is good news. If the HSE does not wish to provide the reports and the Adoption Board cannot facilitate people then all the Minister has to do is to approve a certified social worker capable of providing a post-placement report. The HSE might well want to do its own reports, although on 13 April in The Irish Times the Minister stated it was the position under Irish law that adopted children were the same as biological ones and that parents did not have to make any reports on them. That made the situation even more confusing. It is disingenuous as prospective adoptive parents must undertake to co-operate with the HSE in doing reports. If the reports are not required, why do prospective parents have to agree to make such reports at a later stage in order to be assessed? It is clear that the Russian authorities expected post-placement reports and we should honour that arrangement. After all, we have had the privilege of adopting their children. I do not understand why there is a total unwillingness to take responsibility for this problem.

In light of the current block on Russian adoptions due to the fact that post-placement reports are not being furnished by the Government or being facilitated to be provided by the Government, will the Minister outline a timeline by which the block can be lifted so adoptions can recommence with Russia?

I am the mother of an adopted child from another country. I also signed such an agreement, although not with Russia. I was very happy for social workers from the former Western Health Board to come to my home to check that I was fulfilling the due care I had promised for the child. All we seek is a simple post-placement report to allow adoptions to re-open with Russia.