Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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Question 22: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason neither the chairman nor the executive of the Adoption Authority has answered two letters from an organisation (details supplied) despite repeated reminders; and when the organisation can expect a response. [32417/11]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Following the commencement of the Adoption Act, 2010, which took place on 1 November 2010, adoption in Ireland is now regulated by the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) which is an independent quasi-judicial statutory body appointed by Government. The functions of the Authority are set out in Section 96 of the Adoption Act, 2010. These include functions of an operational, judicial and quasi-judicial nature in relation to the adoption process itself, as provided for under the Act and relating to the Authority's designation as the Central Authority for the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

While the issue raised by the Deputy is the administrative responsibility of the AAI I asked the AAI for an update on the case involved. I have been informed that the correspondence relates to an individual case which has been the subject of extensive correspondence between the Authority and the relevant parties.