Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The third group of amendments have been made to re-format section 33 and to ensure consistency with the definition of inter-country adoption in section 3 and consistency with Article 23 of the Hague Convention which provides that an adoption certified by the competent authority of the state of adoption as having been made in accordance with the convention, shall be recognised by operation of law in the other contracting states. Amendment No. 8 ensures that an adopted person or a person who has an interest in the matter who wishes to have particulars of an adoption entered into the register of inter-country adoptions as provided for under section 90(3) and who is married, does not require the consent of his or her spouse to have the adoption recognised. In other words, only adoptive parents require each others consent to adoption.

The amendment to section 33(4), amendment No. 9 in this case, provides that if the person applying for recognition of an inter-country adoption effected outside the State is the adopted person or a person with an interest in the matter, as referred to in paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 90(3), that person does not have to meet the minimum age requirement of 21 years. The age limit of 21 years in this subsection is only relevant in the context of the adoptive parents at the time of the making of the adoption order or the recognition of inter-country adoption.

Amendment No. 10 deletes the reference to inter-country adoptions in section 33(5) as that sub-provision only applies to adoption orders made by the authority.