Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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935. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if there are delays in sending dossiers for adoptions to India; if so, the reason for same; and the action being taken to remedy the situation. [12922/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Republic of India has ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption, as such it is not necessary to have a bilateral agreement with India. As a contracting state under the Hague Convention, the Adoption Act 2010 provides that adoptions by Irish prospective adoptive parents may be made subject to Irish and Indian requirements being satisfied in line with relevant laws and the provisions of the Hague Convention. It is a matter for contacting states whether they wish to impose restrictions on whether and how inter-country adoptions of citizens of that State may be effected.

I recently facilitated a meeting between the Irish India Support Group and the Adoption Authority in order to provide prospective adopters up to date information on the status of adoptions from India. At this meeting the Adoption Authority advised that there remains a general moratorium by the Indian Central Authority (CARA) on India accepting adoption applications from other countries other than in special circumstances. The Authority has recently received an announcement from CARA that India is currently accepting packs from non-resident Indian prospective adoptive parents for the adoption of Indian children (“normal” category). This means that India remains closed to non-Indian prospective adoptive parents at this time in respect of what it terms “normal” categories of children. The Adoption Authority understands that CARA is accepting applications in respect of children which are termed "special needs", which includes children over five years of age and sibling groups. The Authority is currently attempting to establish from CARA a possible time frame for the acceptance of application packs in the “normal” category from non-Indian nationals.

The Adoption Authority has advised it is their position that it is necessary to have an Irish registered accredited body to facilitate inter-country adoptions from India in order to safeguard the process for the child and the adoptive parents. The Authority has recently decided to delegate its functions under Articles 15, 16 and 17 of the Hague Convention to Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency with regard to adoptions from India. Helping Hands is awaiting approval by CARA in order to proceed in this regard.

I have arranged a follow-up meeting with the Irish India Support Group and the Adoption Authority in May in order to update the group on progress made.

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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936. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to outline the progress on a bilateral agreements with Russia and Ethiopia on inter-country adoption; her plans to speed this process up; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12950/14]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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941. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to explain the position regarding speeding up the process on inter-country adoptions on Russia and Nigeria (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13095/14]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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954. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to outline the action being taken to speed up the process to establish bilateral agreements with Russia and Ethiopia in respect of inter-country adoption; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13399/14]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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975. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the fact that she previously directed the Adoption Authority of Ireland to commence possible negotiations on a bilateral agreement with Ethiopia and noting that representatives of the authority visited Ethiopia two years ago for this purpose, whether it is her intention to wait for Ethiopia to ratify the Hague Convention before examining the possibility of adoptions recommencing from Ethiopia; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13862/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 936, 938, 941, 954 and 975 together.

Efforts are ongoing in my Department in relation to a bilateral agreement on intercountry adoption between Ireland and the Russian Federation. Following my invitation to the Russian Ministry of Education and Science in August 2013 , a delegation of Russian officials travelled to Ireland in October 2013 for discussions on a bilateral agreement on intercountry adoption between Ireland and the Russian Federation. The meeting of the 22nd October 2013 was very positive and detailed discussions took place between the Russian officials and officials from my Department, the Adoption Authority of Ireland, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the HSE. At the meeting significant progress was made and my Department, in early November 2013, forwarded to the Russian side further detailed proposals based on the discussions which took place. Following this my Department prepared revised draft wording on a number of specific points which were recently forwarded to the Russian Authorities. In transmitting these revisions to the Russian authorities it was suggested that should these revisions be acceptable to the Russian Federation, it would be useful for both sides to meet again for further discussions.

The Adoption Authority delegation visit to Ethiopia in April of 2012 was an initial part of the Authority's deliberations on the feasibility and suitability of entering into discussions with Ethiopia on a bilateral adoption agreement. The Authority has also sought and received advice on the legal compatibility of Irish adoption law with that of Ethiopia. The AAI legal advisors have considered this advice and certain clarifications are being sought. The Authority is also trying to establish the position of the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia with regard to the desire of the Ethiopian authorities to entering into talks in relation to a bilateral agreement with Ireland. The Authority will advise me of the position when all the information is available. It is not possible to provide a timeframe for when the Authority's deliberations will be finished. While Ethiopia is striving to improve its child welfare and adoption procedures, it has not yet reached a stage where intercountry adoptions, if re-commenced could be guaranteed to be ethical or legally sound.

PQ 13095 makes reference to intercountry adoption with Nigeria. As Nigeria has not ratified the Hague Convention a bilateral agreement would be necessary in order for intercountry adoptions to take place. There are no plans in this regard.

The Adoption Authority is currently engaging with a number of Hague countries, such as China, India, the USA, Bulgaria, Thailand and the Philippines and is currently seeking to expand the number of Hague countries with which it engages.