Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 337: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, in the aftermath of the ratification of the Adoption Bill a dispensation will apply to couples who receive declarations for adopting children from Russia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5149/10]

Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 339: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if, in the aftermath of the ratification of the Adoption Bill a dispensation will apply to a couple who will have had assessment by 1 March and local approval by 21 April; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5156/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 337 and 339 together.

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.

I announced on 26 January my intention to bring forward at Committee stage an amendment to the Adoption Bill 2009 that will enable prospective adoptive parents to proceed with an adoption from a non-Hague or non-bilateral country, if prior to the establishment date, they have been issued with a Declaration of Eligibility and Suitability to adopt. The proposed amendment requires that the Adoption Authority (to be set up under the Act) would be satisfied that the particular adoption meets all the standards of the Hague Convention.