Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 388: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her views on the situation which has arisen whereby Ireland has been blacklisted for adoption by the Russian authorities; the reason Ireland is not obeying the necessary procedures regarding post-placement reports on the children who were adopted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15318/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Regions from within more than a dozen countries, including Ireland, the United States, the United Kingdom and France were "blacklisted" by the Russian Ministry of Education, thus suspending referrals for adoption. The issue as it pertains to Ireland relates to Post Placement Reports. When adopting from Russia, adoptive parents agree to complete a series of post placement reports on the child which are to be lodged with the Russian authorities. It should be noted that this is an administrative arrangement as part of the Russian adoption process and not a legal requirement.

The issue arose previously, in 2009, and was resolved to the satisfaction of the Russian authorities. I was surprised to learn of this latest problem as there had been recent positive feedback from the Russian authorities on this issue and there was no indication that the Russian authorities were about to take the decision to suspend adoptions for Irish applicants.

Once I became aware of the problem, contact was immediately made with the Russian Embassy in Dublin to confirm the suspension of adoption activity and to seek the Embassy's assistance in identifying all outstanding reports. On receipt of this information the Health Service Executive, in conjunction with the Adoption Board, examined the list and the up to date position in relation to the reports was compiled. According to information received from the HSE, more than half of the reports listed by the Russian authorities as outstanding were previously completed by the adoptive parents and forwarded to the Russian Embassy in Dublin. The majority of the remaining reports have been completed by the HSE and are currently with the adoptive parents. In a small number of cases, adoptive parents have not engaged with the HSE, thus preventing the completion of reports. I met with diplomats from the Russian Embassy yesterday in order to review the position and with a view to re-opening the adoption process for Irish applicants.

I am very aware of the anxiety experienced by those who are waiting to adopt from Russia as a result of this issue. Parents who have already adopted from Russia are being encouraged by the health authorities to provide any outstanding information to the Russian Government in a timely fashion .