Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress made on finalising an administrative or working agreement with Kazakhstan for the adoption of children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33381/12]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) seeks to proactively engage with its counterparts in countries identified for intercountry adoption purposes, including Kazakhstan. While direct contact and diplomatic channels are used to promote such contact, the success of these efforts is obviously contingent upon the preferences of such other countries regarding intercountry adoption relationships.

Over the past 18 months AAI has written to its counterpart Central Authority in Kazakhstan on three separate occasions to begin the process of developing an administrative agreement for intercountry adoption. To date there has been no reply from the Kazakhstani authorities to any of the contacts made by the AAI. The Authority has continued to indicate that it is open to discussing the issue of intercountry adoptions with its Kazakhstani counterparts at any time, and the most recent correspondence from the AAI was in March of this year.

An official of the Irish Embassy in Moscow presented the copy correspondence to, and raised the issue of intercountry adoption with, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan on Friday 11 May 2012. The Embassy officials in Moscow have also been asked to secure feedback from the meeting held in Kazakhstan on 11 May to assess its relevance for progress towards an administrative agreement on intercountry adoption between Ireland and Kazakhstan. AAI is doing a review of adoption laws in Kazakhstan.

An official at the Irish Embassy in Moscow confirmed to the AAI on 4 July 2012 that the National Central Authority had received the Adoption Authority of Ireland correspondence and a reply was in the course of preparation. They were not in a position to state the nature of the reply. This matter was also followed up on 3rd July directly with the Embassy by officials of the DCYA. A response is awaited.