Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 156: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason there are delays, running up to four or five years, in the completion of assessments for inter-country adoptions; her proposals to improve the service referred to in her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 60 of 31 January 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42964/08]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the number of cases nationally awaiting assessment for inter-country adoption and the average waiting time for assessment. [42965/08]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 156 and 157 together.

The Deputy's questions relate to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE) under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

As the Deputy will be aware, requests for assessment for inter-country adoption assessments are continuously increasing. The Study on inter-country adoption, undertaken by the Children's Research Centre in Trinity College, revealed that Ireland has one of the highest rates for inter-country adoption in Europe. It is against this background that my Office is continuing to work to create the appropriate legislative, policy and administrative frameworks which will ensure a well regulated regime of adoption. Our aim is to support and protect prospective parents, and even more importantly, the children for whom adoption services are devised and provided.

A family that wishes to adopt should be recognised beforehand as being able to promote, safeguard and support the development and well being of a child in need of adoption in a lasting manner. However, I am conscious that persons applying for inter-country adoption are experiencing delays in the assessment process. I acknowledge that there are delays in the waiting times for assessment, and that there are also concerns regarding the standardisation of the service across the country.

It should be noted that increasing numbers of adopted children from abroad create additional pressures on inter-country adoption teams within the HSE. This is because these same teams provide post-adoption reports to the sending countries, at the request of those countries, with the agreement of the adoptive parents. This is an important component in the willingness of countries to consider Irish applicants for adoption. It is also important to note that subsequent to undergoing an assessment with the HSE and receiving the Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability from the Adoption Board applicants must then wait before receiving a referral for a child from the sending country. The waiting times for referral are outside the jurisdiction of both the HSE and the Adoption Board and are dependant on the regulations that each individual country has with regard to inter-country Adoption.

The HSE has conducted a review of the inter-country adoption service. This review examined staffing, business processes, resources, strengths and options within the service. On foot of this report, HSE principal social workers have been having regular meetings, chaired by a senior manager, to discuss the streamlining of the service. The outcome of these discussions will be put into policy format by the end of this year. I understand that the Adoption Board has also taken on a programme of work to support the change process required to devise a more effective system of service delivery. The Board will be delivering a series of training sessions to HSE staff, and I am confident that this will greatly contribute to the standardisation of the service.

However, it should be noted that the inter-country adoption service in the HSE is provided by the same social work service responsible for child protection services, and that the protection services take priority at all times due to the risks involved for children. I want to assure the Deputy of my attention to this issue and reiterate the importance of a rigorous and effective assessment system, which is provided on a timely, fair and transparent basis.