Seanad debates

Friday, 2 July 2010

Adoption Bill 2009 [Seanad Bill Amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Fidelma Healy EamesFidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

The legislative process has continued for a year and three or four months. We have soldiered into the Chamber at various Stages of the Bill. I am delighted this country will be formally compliant with the Hague Convention on the enactment of the Bill. As a prospective adoptive parent in the mid-1990s I was assessed according to the terms of the Hague Convention. To be fair to the former health board, it was using those criteria at that point. I accept there is a difference in that now the position has been formalised which makes a big change in terms of foreign adoption and the various arrangements we make with different countries.

I urge the Minister of State to use the highest levels of diplomacy to ensure that Irish families can continue to adopt from Russia. It might be necessary to force couples here to become compliant. I use the word "force" in the gentlest way possible, because I know what it is like. The Minister of State used the word "normality". When normality returns to a family that has adopted from abroad they just get on with rearing their children and they forget to some extent about their obligation to the birth country and how that can affect families in future here. We need the Minister of State to pursue a bilateral agreement with Russia for the sake of this country since it is not seeking compliance with the Hague Convention at the moment. Mexico is also an excellent provider of children so that is an important country to keep in contact with, as is Vietnam. I accept what the Minister of State said about Vietnam today.

My main disappointment is that there is no grandfather clause in the Bill, regardless of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission. Without that clause children will be denied the opportunity to grow up with a sibling from their country of origin and culture. I adopted one of my children from abroad. I am aware that it is a source of great comfort to many families that sometimes a child from the same birth family becomes available for adoption, or from the same country. Without the inclusion of a grandfather clause, Irish families cannot now adopt such a child if he or she becomes available. That is a great mistake. It did not affect me personally, but we cannot just talk about what affects us personally. We are working on everyone's behalf. I hope we can address the matter in the future.

Given the Minister of State's overall brief of child protection, he could have spent all of his time on the Adoption Bill which was so chaotic especially given the situation in Vietnam and Russia. As he indicated, it is not over yet. I urge him to continue his work and not to give up. We need him to succeed.

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