Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will give an assurance that she will fully support the renewal of the bilateral agreement with Vietnam for the adoption of Vietnamese children by Irish couples; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47366/08]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 253: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on the concerns raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46926/08]

Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 265: To ask the Minister for Health and Children whether a provision is being made to extend the agreement between Ireland and Vietnam regarding the adoption of children beyond the expiry date of May 2009; if a new agreement is being put in place before the expiry date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47169/08]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 227, 253 and 265 together.

My Office will shortly be publishing the Adoption Bill, 2008 which will ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. Under the new legislation, prospective adoptive parents will be able to adopt from countries which have also ratified the Hague Convention, and countries with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement which meets Hague standards.

While it is true to say that our current Agreement with Vietnam is based on Hague principles, as part of the preparations for our new legislation we need to ensure that our Agreement reflects the Hague Convention as comprehensively as possible. A new Agreement allows the opportunity to elaborate and strengthen some existing provisions to meet the standards which it is anticipated will be set in draft legislation. There have been considerable developments in intercountry adoption in Vietnam since the Agreement was signed 5 years ago. This progress also needs to be reflected in any new Agreement.

There is a clause in the current Agreement which states that the Agreement will be automatically extended for another 5 year term unless one State notifies the other State to the contrary. Because of the changes to our adoption legislation, the Agreement cannot 'roll over' in its present form for another 5 years. As a result, the Irish Government was obliged to formally notify Vietnam that there can be no automatic renewal of the Agreement when the five year term expires on 1 May, 2009.

I am aware of the concerns of those parents who have already adopted and those who hope to adopt from Vietnam in the future. I would like to assure the Deputy that officials from my Office and the Adoption Board have been continuously monitoring the situation and liaising closely with colleagues in the Department of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Hanoi over recent months. In November, a senior official from my Office led a delegation to Vietnam accompanied by the Chairman and CEO of the Adoption Board. While the purpose of this visit was to commence discussions with the Vietnamese Authorities on the possible renegotiation of the Agreement, the delegation also availed of the opportunity to meet with officials from various embassies and with UNICEF to discuss the their views on intercountry adoption from Vietnam.

The Irish Government has issued a formal request to the Vietnamese Authorities stating that we wish to enter into discussions immediately for the purpose of negotiating a new Agreement to follow on from the existing Agreement. We are currently awaiting the response of the Vietnamese authorities.