Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Question 80: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs following her visit to Vietnam, if she will outline to Dáil Éireann if she entered into any protocols or agreements that will resolve the difficulties of foreign adoptions for Irish parents from that country; if there has been any resolution of these difficulties; the likelihood of a restoration of foreign adoption agreement with the Vietnamese authorities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7852/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption entered into force for Vietnam on 1 February 2012. The ratification of the Hague Convention by Vietnam, the associated changes in Vietnamese law and the arrangements being put in place to support on the ground implementation are hugely significant changes in the intercountry adoption regime in that country since adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam ceased. Ireland withdrew from negotiations on a bilateral agreement. The Vietnamese Government, very prudently in my view, ceased allowing adoptions from that jurisdiction in 2010 in order to focus on responding to the issues raised in two separate reports, prepared by the International Social Service on behalf of UNICEF Vietnam and the Department of Adoption of the Ministry of Justice, Vietnam, and to focus its efforts on the ratification of the Hague Convention.

As I have reported my recent visit to Vietnam, which focused on intercountry adoption, was very positive. It coincided with a visit of a delegation from the Adoption Authority of Ireland to Vietnam to discuss administrative matters in relation to intercountry adoptions on foot of Vietnam's ratification of the Hague Convention.

Under section 72 of the Adoption Act 2010, the Adoption Authority may enter into administrative arrangements with another contracting State. In this context, the Authority has prepared and submitted to the Vietnamese authorities a suggested scheme of administrative arrangements to be established between Ireland and Vietnam for the resumption of intercountry adoption between the two States. The Authority is awaiting the response of the Vietnamese authorities to this proposal.

The Adoption Authority has also recently announced its approval of ARC Adoption Ltd as a registered accredited body for the purposes of adoption mediation within Vietnam. Further applications from other bodies remain under consideration by the Authority and a decision is anticipated shortly in this regard. Agencies accredited by the Adoption Authority of Ireland also require the approval of the Vietnamese authorities.