Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the negotiations on a bilateral adoption agreement with Ethiopia; the consultation to date with the Australian authorities on the issue; the implications of her decision on adoptions from Vietnam; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2783/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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 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 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.

The issue of transitional measures for prospective parents who are at a definable stage in the adoption process when the Bill is enacted and who wish to continue to adopt a child from a non-Hague, non-bilateral country, is being examined. Prospective adoptive parents have waited a long time and it is my intention to be as flexible as possible in relation to applicants.

Ireland does not have a bilateral agreement with Ethiopia in respect of adoption. Consideration of this matter is at an early stage. My Office has had no contact to date with the Australian authorities in relation to the recently announced decision by the Australian Government to suspend adoptions from Ethiopia.

I issued a detailed statement following the Government decision of the 13th January to suspend bilateral intercountry adoption negotiations with Vietnam. The statement is available at www.omc.gov.ie.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 136: To ask the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No 105 of 17 December 2009, the interim measures she will put in place in respect of foreign adoption applicants who have submitted applications in advance of the enactment of the Adoption Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2784/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As outlined in my reply to the Deputy on 17th December, 2009, the position regarding transitional measures for prospective parents who are at a definable stage in the adoption process when the Bill is enacted and who wish to continue to adopt a child from a non-Hague, non-bilateral country, is being examined. Prospective adoptive parents have waited a long time and it is my intention to be as flexible as possible in relation to applicants.