Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 30: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of countries with which Ireland has signed an administrative agreement for the purposes of facilitating inter-country adoptions; the number of children adopted using administrative arrangements since the establishment of the Adoption Authority of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33376/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption entered into force in Ireland on 1 November 2010 with the enactment of the Adoption Act 2010 and the establishment of the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI). Therefore, since then, adoptions have been ongoing from Hague contracted countries and 35 such adoptions have taken place in the period 1 January 2011 to end June 2012.

Under section 72 of the Adoption Act 2010, the Adoption Authority may enter into administrative arrangements with another contracting State. An administrative arrangement is not mandatory for inter country adoption between countries that are both signatories to Hague. However some contracting states, including Ireland, may determine that in some instances co-operation in the field of inter country adoption between particular countries is best served by the development of an administrative agreement under Section 72 of the Act.

The Adoption Authority is working to establish administrative arrangements with a number of Hague countries in relation to intercountry adoptions, as provided for under section 72 of the Adoption Act 2010. The Authority has travelled to a number of jurisdictions in order to make contact with the Central Authorities, advise of our processes and procedures, assess the need for additional administrative arrangements or agreements; and to glean as much information as possible of relevance to prospective adopters from those countries. The visits also provide opportunities to streamline processes on both sides and obtain up-to-date information for prospective adopters on developments in these countries. The most recent engagements by the AAI with its counterpart Central Authorities include:

· positive discussions in that regard which recently took place between the Adoption Authority of Ireland and a visiting delegation of senior officials from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which is a Hague signatory. The discussions lead to finalisation on the contents of administrative arrangements for the resumption of adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam. I have invited the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, to visit Ireland in September at which point I expect that the agreement setting out the administrative arrangements will be signed by the two Central Authorities.

· A delegation from the Adoption Authority travelled to New Delhi, India, on 18th June 2012 to discuss adoption arrangements between the Adoption Authority and CARA, the Indian Central Authority. I understand the Authority is considering the report from this visit.

· With the help of the Irish Embassy in Moscow, the AAI has had a response to its earlier communications from the adoption authorities in Kazakhstan on the issue of intercountry adoptions and is proposing to meet the authorities in Kazakhstan.