Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 299: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding inter country adoption with Ethiopia; if the adoption process with Ethiopia is under threat of suspension; the action she has taken to protect the adoption agreement with Ethiopia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37282/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland does not have a bilateral agreement in place with Ethiopia in respect of the adoption of children from that country. The Adoption Bill, 2009, is designed to give force of law to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption. The Bill has passed through the Seanad and is scheduled to be debated in Dáil Eireann during the current session. The new legislation is designed to provide a framework to ensure that appropriate procedures have been followed and that all adoptions are effected in the best interests of the child. This applies in the case of adoptions from Ethiopia and other countries who have not, as yet, ratified the Hague Convention, and would seem unlikely to do so in the immediate future. Future inter-country adoption arrangements will be governed by the terms of the Adoption Bill, 2009, when enacted. Only adoptions effected before the commencement of the Act can be registered on the Register of Inter-Country Adoptions to be established under the Bill.