Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 421: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if work has begun on a bilateral agreement to allow adoption from Ethiopia; when she anticipates this agreement will be concluded; if the agreement will be in place before the Adoption Bill 2009 becomes law; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37961/09]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 509: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the outcome of adoptions between Ireland and Ethiopia once the Hague Agreement is ratified here; if a similar position to the one which has arisen with Vietnam will be repeated if parents who are in the process of adopting have not completed this process; if she will agree a bilateral treaty with Ethiopia on adoptions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38562/09]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 537: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the status of negotiations on a bilateral adoption agreement with Ethiopia; the consultation to date in 2009 with the Australian authorities on the issue;; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38716/09]

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 593: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, in view of comments made (details supplied) at the annual general meeting of an association, she will confirm that adoptions from Ethiopia will continue for the foreseeable future, irrespective of Ireland's forthcoming ratification of the Hague Convention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39073/09]

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 594: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will confirm, irrespective of a final decision on whether to postpone adoptions from Ethiopia once Ireland ratifies the Hague Convention, and pending bilateral agreement between the two countries, that parents who are nearing the declaration stage with the Health Service Executive and who have chosen this country as a place from which to adopt children and have invested time and effort into researching the culture and history of the country should be allowed to continue with the process until its completion, whilst not permitting further selection of Ethiopia by other parents who have not declared a choice, should this decision be made; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39074/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 421, 509, 537, 593 and 594 together.

The Adoption Bill, 2009, which 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, has passed through the Seanad and is scheduled to be debated in Dail Eireann in the current Dáil session. The new legislation, which incorporates the provisions of the Hague Convention, 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. Future intercountry adoption arrangements will be governed by the terms of the Adoption Bill 2009 when enacted.

The current policy position, as set out in the Adoption Bill 2009, is that for an adoption to be registered under the Bill it must be effected in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement or have been effected prior to the commencement of the new law.

There are transitional provisions contained in the Bill. However, the issue of further transitional measures for prospective parents who are at an advanced stage when the Bill is enacted, and who wish to continue with an adoption from a non-Hague, non-bilateral country, have been raised with me by representative groups. I am currently examining this and other related matters.

My officials, in consultation with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs, have been doing preparatory work on a possible bilateral agreement with Ethiopia. Consideration of this is at an early stage.