Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 1163: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if there has been any progress on the approval by the Adoption Authority of Helping Hands as an accredited agency in advance of the working agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18279/12]

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 1176: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the position regarding adoptions from Vietnam (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18896/12]

Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 1178: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide an update on the bilateral agreement on adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam following her visit to that country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19190/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1163, 1176 and 1178 together.

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 represent significant changes in the intercountry adoption regime in that country.

I took the opportunity to visit Vietnam in recent months and met with the Vietnamese authorities. My visit 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 recent 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 registration of one 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.