Seanad debates

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Adoption (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Katherine ZapponeKatherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is my second point. Regardless or whether they require or are voluntary, this would still place in law something that raises questions in regard to the constitutional issue in terms of the protection of the family under Article 41.

Third, any plans with prospective adopters about post-adoption contact are not legally enforceable having regard to the rights of parents under the Constitution. There is no lawful means of compelling the parents of a child to facilitate access to the child by other persons unless by a court order. Putting these plans therefore on a legislative footing could give rise to legal difficulties. It also raises a question about the appropriateness of the State's involvement in such arrangements.

Amendments Nos. 2 and 13 also raise operational difficulties for the Child and Family Agency. "Relevant services and supports" are very broad terms for the purposes of legislation. Contact plans are not provided for in adoption legislation. Therefore, the proposed amendments would require the establishment of new services and supports which could have both resource and cost implications, notwithstanding the comments made about seeking sufficient resources, which, of course, I would support.

With regard to amendment No. 3, post-adoption services and supports are available to an adopted child in the same manner as with respect to any other child in the State. Accordingly, it is open to an adopted child to access the full range of services as appropriate for that child. Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 would require the court to have regard to the existence of, or any proposals for, any contact plan when making its assessment of the best interests of the child in the context of making a decision regarding an adoption. As I said previously, to provide for any such plans post-adoption would require a full review of adoption policy. Amendments Nos. 17 and 18 would also require the court to have regard to the existence of, or any proposals for, any contact plan when making its assessment of the best interests of the child in the context of making a decision regarding an adoption. Given that there is no provision for contact plans in adoption legislation, it would not be appropriate to include such a provision in a section which deals with specific circumstances for dispensing with parental consent.

Amendment No. 24 proposes to amend section 96 of the principal Act to provide for the publication of guidelines relating to contact plans, as well as information on post-adoption services and supports. Again, given that there is no provision for contact plans in adoption legislation it would be inappropriate to include a provision such as this.

For these reasons I am not accepting the proposed amendments.

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