Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 168: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will report on the new bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; the contacts she has had with the Vietnamese Government on this matter in recent months; if applications for referral will not be accepted after 1 April 2009; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7471/09]

Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding negotiations on the renewal of a bilateral agreement (details supplied). [7797/09]

Bernard Allen (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 172: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the bilateral agreement for the purpose of adoption between Ireland and Vietnam in which families have been informed that it may not be renewed when it expires on 30 April 2009 and which will have serious consequences both for Irish families and many Vietnamese children. [7847/09]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if the adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam is not completed before 1 May 2009, the arrangements or guidelines which will be put in place to ensure that families who have an application with the agencies will have their adoption agreed to in the interim between 1 May 2009 and when the new agreement is signed (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7940/09]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position of the adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; if the discussions in relation to a new agreement have been completed; if not, the proposed date for such a completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7941/09]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 175: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will support the issues raised in correspondence from persons (details supplied). [7946/09]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if the bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam has been renewed; if so, the date on which it was renewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7954/09]

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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Question 217: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason for the delay in renewing the bilateral agreement with Vietnam for the adoption of Vietnamese children by Irish couples; and if she will ensure that a new agreement is in place by the end of April 2009. [7301/09]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she has sent the text of a draft agreement to the Vietnamese Government in relation to inter-country adoption between the two countries; if not, if she will ensure that this happens; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7308/09]

Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 220: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, in the event of a new adoption agreement not being finalised with Vietnam by 1 May 2009, she will put in place contingency arrangements to enable persons who are in the process of adopting or are intending to make application for adoption of a Vietnamese child before 1 April 2009 to proceed to a conclusion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7311/09]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 229: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when the renewal of the bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam will be finalised to allow inter-country adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam to continue (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7476/09]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she expects the new adoption agreement with Vietnam to be in place by 1 May 2009; and if not, if she will arrange to postpone the closure date on the existing arrangements until the new agreement is in place. [7546/09]

Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 236: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when a new bilateral agreement between Vietnam and Ireland in respect of adoptions will be in place, in view of the fact that the existing agreement comes to an end on 30 April 2009, the substantial number of Irish couples who wish to adopt children from Vietnam, and the lengthy process which they have to go through before being given approval by Irish authorities; if she will give a guarantee that this matter will be resolved by 30 April 2009, in view of the proposals for new legislation in this area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7623/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 168, 171 to 176, inclusive, 217, 219, 220, 229, 233 and 236 together.

The Irish Government formally notified the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in October last that there would be no automatic renewal of the Agreement when the five year term expires on 1 May, 2009. While Ireland's current agreement is based on Hague principles, there is a need to elaborate the Agreement to reflect the standards of the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption more comprehensively. This is in line with Ireland's own commitment to ratify the Hague Convention. It is also relevant to reflect the experiences gained by both sides over the first five years of a formal relationship between the two States. This approach is also part of the preparations for new adoption legislation in which it is proposed that a bilateral agreement will be required between Ireland and any State which has not ratified the Hague Convention. The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not yet ratified the Convention. Officials travelled to Vietnam in November, 2008 to meet with the relevant authorities dealing with intercountry adoption as well as the embassies of other governments to discuss intercountry adoption in Vietnam and progress towards ratification more generally.

In December 2008, following a Government decision on the matter, the Irish Government issued a formal request to the Vietnamese Authorities advising that the Government wished to enter into discussions immediately for the purpose of negotiating a new bilateral adoption Agreement to follow on from the existing Agreement. In order to expedite the negotiation process, Ireland offered to provide the Vietnamese Authorities with the text of a draft agreement as a basis for negotiations. The Vietnamese authorities responded positively to Ireland's request to enter into formal negotiations and the proposal that Ireland would prepare a first draft.

Work on a draft agreement requires careful and detailed consideration by a number of parties including the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General's Office and the Adoption Board. An initial text was prepared by my Office in December and the draft is now at an advanced stage. It will be finalised shortly once legal advices have been received on outstanding matters. It is anticipated that this will be forwarded to the Vietnamese Authorities for their consideration in the immediate future.

The issue of contingency arrangements in the case of an Agreement not being reached by 1 May, 2009 was raised by the Government in a December 2008 communication to the Vietnamese. The Vietnamese authorities formally advised on proposed contingency arrangements on Friday, 13 February, through the Irish Embassy in Hanoi. My Office subsequently prepared and circulated a public information note on the contingency plans to prospective adoptive parents through the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency and the adoption support groups. I want to emphasise that these are contingency plans in the event of an Agreement not being reached by 1 May 2009. My officials and I are continuing to pursue the successful conclusion of a bilateral agreement with Vietnam as a priority. The Irish government will continue to seek to re-visit the contingency arrangements which have been put in place over the course of and in light of negotiations on a new agreement.

I feel obliged to remind the House that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a sovereign state and decisions it makes regarding the internal regulation and management of the adoption of its children must be treated sensitively as appropriate to a sovereign state. I respectfully suggest that demands for guarantees or changes to contingency arrangements are matters which fall to be dealt with as part of the negotiation process on a bilateral basis. At this stage, I cannot pre-empt either Government's deliberative process as those negotiations advance. My priority is to advance the process and avoid debate outside of that process which could potentially jeopardise or interfere with discussions with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

I can assure you that the work to prepare for and advise the Government on this issue, and to implement the Government's decisions, has been given, and continues to be given, the highest priority. These are complex matters which require careful consideration. At all times, the Government, and I, and the officials advising us, are guided by the need to respect and protect the best interests and rights of the child.