Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 342: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position in relation to a Romanian born child whose adoption by an Irish couple has been approved by the Adoption Board but cannot be completed owing to problems with the Romanian legal system; if it is the case that a UN travel document would designate this child a refugee although they have lived with their adoptive parents for ten years; if an application for a further passport (details supplied), as an alternative to a UN travel document, to enable this child to travel to Lourdes in May 2008 with their adoptive parents, will be favourably considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8917/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is responsible for the issuing of UN travel documents. Policy and practice in this regard, including issues associated with the status of a person to whom such a document is issued, are handled by that Department.

No new passport application has been received by the Passport Office in respect of the child in question. It is therefore not possible to comment definitively on whether a passport would issue. However, if it is the case as the Deputy describes that the adoption has not been approved by the Adoption Board, it would appear that the child may not be an Irish citizen.

The Department would wish to help the parents and the child in every way possible. In this regard, our Ambassador in Romania has been asked to see if there is any way that the legal difficulties preventing approval of the child's adoption by the Adoption Board can be resolved at an early stage. Secondly, the Department has been in direct contact with the Romanian Embassy to see if they can be helpful. I have asked the Department to revert directly to the Deputy's Office once it has a clearer sense of a possible way forward.