Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 238: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if he will ensure that the new Adoption Bill will confer on adoptive parents a wide menu of post-adoptive services, rather than confining these parents to post-adoptive services from the agency or the health board that processes their application to adopt; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7641/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the new Bill, there is no specific provision to provide post adoption services for children who have additional needs. Adopted children, who have additional needs have, and will continue to have, the same eligibility and entitlements to health, personal social services and special education needs as any child in Ireland. However, the Bill does make statutory provision for the notification by adoptive parents of the adoption on return to Ireland with a child. This notification must be made both to the Adoption Authority for the purposes of registering the child as well as to the HSE, so that the child receives all of the normal child health surveillance services available through the public health system.

As regards information and tracing for adopted persons, again, the Bill does not cover this area as there is already an effective administrative system for dealing with the issue of information and tracing. The Information and Tracing Unit in the Adoption Board provides an advice and referral service for those seeking to trace or to obtain medical or personal information. The National Adoption Contact Preference Register (NACPR) assists adopted people and their natural families to make contact with each other, exchange information, or to state their contact preferences.

In November 2007, the Adoption Board launched the "Standardised Framework for the Provision of a National Adoption Information and Tracing Service" to set standards and provide guidance and advice for information and tracing services providers nationally. The standardised Framework is currently being piloted nationally. In relation to Information and Tracing for persons adopted from abroad, I understand that subject to resources, the Adoption Board intends to undertake a consultation process with interested parties to determine how best to address the information and tracing needs of those who have been adopted from abroad.