Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am seeking the assistance of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, regarding an adoption crisis affecting five Irish families. The families are in a unique situation. Having arranged to adopt a Russian child, they now find that the Russian Government has changed the rules, extending the length of time an adoptive child is to be registered on its database from six months to 12 months. As a result, the children these families proposed to adopt will only be on the database for 12 months after October 31, 2013, when the declaration for eligibility for prospective Irish adoption expires. There is a very short timeframe to deal with this and we need urgent action, as the Leader, Senator Cummins knows. He has been very active on this issue too.

This crisis was flagged with the Minister in July of this year but to date, with only three weeks to go, the families are still in limbo with no solution to their problem. Some of them have already travelled to Russia and bonded with their future children. One can only imagine the pain of these parents, who have already met the children and bonded with them. They are in anguish now. The Minister was contacted by some of these families in July. They requested her assistance through intensive lobbying of Deputies and Senators. I told the families that Senator Gilroy was the key man as he had the ear of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore. I know that Senator Gilroy is a compassionate person.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs has responded to the effect that she will work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade through diplomatic channels, as well as considering an amendment to the 2010 Adoption Act. The Minister has only three weeks to decide on the most appropriate amendment but no date has been set for tabling such an amendment. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking for these families and children. The only solution is an amendment to the aforementioned 2010 legislation, responsibility for which lies firmly on the shoulders of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. I urge the Minister to introduce an amendment in the Dáil prior to 31 October, to be passed, with the support of this House, before 1 December of this year. I ask the Minister to walk the walk. Talk is not enough. It is not enough to be eloquent on television as a spokesperson on children. I want to see action from the Minister.