Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

On the matter raised by Senator Cummins, I refer to the Minister of State's remarks. Given the movement from the 1991 Act to today and with regard to inter-country agreements which have permitted hundreds of children who were placed in orphanages in Vietnam to be adopted and given homes and in the case of this country, to be given the best opportunities, the Minister of State has refused to meet the Helping Hands organisation in Cork and he has refused to meet a cross-party delegation of Oireachtas Members from Cork. If we are to facilitate and assist people, is it not the case that a crucial element of the bilateral agreement was the establishment, at the insistence of Ireland and Vietnam, of a not for profit licensed facilitator? In the case of Vietnam, the facilitator was and remains the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency. However, the Minister of State has refused to meet this group and the cross-party delegation from Cork. His office replied to a letter from Deputy Kathleen Lynch on behalf of the delegation stating that the Minister of State's diary was too busy in the coming months to meet the delegation. I am concerned that we have created a situation with regard to the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency which is unfair and which is wrong. The agency has published an independent audit of its work. I have no difficulty with the Minister of State making decisions but I have a difficulty when a decision is unfair or wrong. I do not believe for one second that this agency has done anything illegal. Up to the present day, Helping Hands continues to assist. What the Minister of State has not addressed this morning or during the Bill's passage through the other House, is the fact that we now have no due regard in this process.

As Senator Cummins said, there are hundreds of families affected. I attended a funeral last Monday and I met a cousin in tears, in limbo, because of the process. This is a consequence of Government's failure to enter into negotiations and given statements made by the Minister of State, a refusal to enter into negotiations with the Government of Vietnam. We have allowed this to lapse since May last year. I am concerned that we have gone down the wrong road.

I understand the Minister of State's stand with regard to the Adoption Bill but the regulation of affairs between two sovereign nations, Ireland and Vietnam, can be independently achieved when both nations agree on how they will conduct international adoptions between the two countries. This is an example of progressive and beneficial thinking. Everybody wants to get the best possible standards and bearing in mind that at all times the welfare of the infant child - in Vietnam or wherever - must be at the core. The children must be protected to the highest possible standard.

I am disappointed with the response we have received today and I ask the Minister of State to reconsider it.