Written answers

Tuesday, 17 November 2009

Department of Health and Children

Inter-Country Adoptions

10:00 pm

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the reason persons who seek adoptions can only queue on the list for one country; and if she will offer advice to persons who have been waiting for a Vietnam adoption regarding the wisdom of abandoning their wait and rejoining the queue for another country at the bottom of that list. [41450/09]

Photo of Barry AndrewsBarry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Applicants for inter-country adoption must undergo a detailed statutory assessment process, which is undertaken by professional Social Workers, and must be approved by the Adoption Board before a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability to adopt abroad can be issued to them from the Board. An important and integral aspect of this assessment process is that applicants develop and exhibit an understanding of and an appreciation of the culture and ethnic origins of the child whom they would propose to adopt. This is necessary so that the adoptive parents are capable of supporting an adopted child from a foreign country living in Ireland having been adopted abroad.

Moreover, in order to exercise appropriate control over the process of inter-country adoption into Ireland under the Adoption Acts 1952-1998, it is necessary to ensure that applicants to adopt abroad are only engaging with one specified foreign country at any given time.

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. The Bill is scheduled to commence its second stage process in Dáil Éireann on the 18th of November. 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 inter-country 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 contracting State to the Hague Convention or in a country with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement. For non-Hague countries only those adoptions effected prior to the commencement of the new law can be registered on the Register of Inter-Country Adoptions to be established under the Bill.

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 Office has been in negotiations with the Vietnamese Government regarding the drafting of a new bilateral inter-country Adoption agreement for some time. I have clearly indicated my intention to await the finalisation of the International Social Services Report on Inter-country Adoption in Vietnam before making final decisions regarding the next steps. I will be considering the report along with the report published in August by the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I anticipate the ISS report will be finalised this month. I will be communicating my decision at the earliest opportunity. I am mindful of the difficult position many prospective adopters find themselves at this point in time.

The Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai recently led a trade mission to Ireland. I took the opportunity to meet again with Minister Hai whom I had met with during my July visit to Vietnam. The meeting took place on the 23rd October. Adoption matters were discussed. The meeting was most amicable and allowed both Governments to outline their current positions in relation to the bilateral agreement and legislative developments in each jurisdiction, including Hague Convention ratification. Both Governments restated their desire to achieve the highest standards in inter-country adoption and they committed to ongoing dialogue to advance these goals.

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