Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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956. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to detail the number of persons or couples who have completed a mandatory Health Service Executive assessment for the purposes of applying to adopt a child under the terms of the Hague Convention since Ireland’s ratification of the convention in 2010. [13499/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Child and Family Agency has advised that 719 applicants and/or couples have completed the Health Service Executive assessment for the purposes of applying to adopt a child since the commencement of the Adoption Act, 2010. This figure relates to inter-country adoption assessments up to 31/12/2013 as the Quarter 1 information for 2014 is currently being collated.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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957. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide in tabular form on a yearly basis the number of persons or couples who have adopted children from outside the State subject to the terms of the Hague Convention. [13501/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Adoption Authority has advised that the following number of adoptions have been effected by Irish residents from Hague ratified states subject to Hague standards between 1st November 2010 and to date in 2014.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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958. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to explain the reason the numbers of persons or couples adopting children from outside the State has significantly reduced under the terms of the Hague Convention. [13502/14]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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968. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will outline the shortcomings of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which was enacted in 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13662/14]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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969. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to explain the reason the number of inter-country adoptions has dramatically decreased since the enactment of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption in Ireland in 2010; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13663/14]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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974. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in view of the fact that in the past three and a half years only 11 adoptions have been effected by persons approved under the Adoption Act 2010 if she will direct the Adoption Authority of Ireland to proceed with the establishment of bilateral agreements with non-Hague countries, as the Adoption Act 2010 allows for; if she will indicate which countries; the progress to date; the likely timescale involved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13861/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 958, 968, 969 and 974 together.

With the enactment of the Adoption Act 2010 on 1 November 2010, Ireland ratified the Hague Convention on protection of children and co-operation in respect of intercountry adoption.

The total number of intercountry adoptions recognised by the Authority in the years 2010 to 2013 (inclusive) was 725. In 2013, the total number of adoptions registered in the Register of Intercountry Adoptions, including adoptive parents habitually resident both in Ireland and abroad, was 141. The total for 2012 was 242 and the total for 2011 was 342.

The legal framework required by the Adoption Act, 2010, which brought into effect the Hague Convention, has created a much lengthier and robust framework for regulating intercountry adoption. This includes a number of steps to ensure the integrity of the adoption process such as the placement and referral process.

In line with its obligations under the Hague Convention and the Adoption Act 2010, the Adoption Authority must ensure that international standards of best practice are applied to its operations, including compliance with the requirement for full, free and informed consent by birth parents and respect for the principle of subsidiarity in intercountry adoptions. The Authority is also mindful of Ireland’s responsibilities under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been ratified by Ireland and includes among other safeguards in Article 21 the necessity for the principle of ‘subsidiarity’, whereby intercountry adoption is seen as a measure to be considered only after other suitable alternatives to place a child in his or her own country have been exhausted.

It is a fact throughout Hague Convention contracting states that there has been a significant decline in recent years in the number of children available for adoption as average wealth has grown and standards of child protection safeguards have improved in countries which would previously have placed large numbers of children for adoption. This is a welcome development for children who are now being cared for in their own countries, often by extended family members. For comparison purposes, the total number of children adopted into the top twelve receiving states in 2004 was 43,142. In 2011, this figure had dropped to 21,911 – a drop of 50%. A significant decrease in the number of children being made available for intercountry adoption by their country of origin has obvious consequences in terms of the ease or otherwise with which intercountry adoptions can be effected by prospective adoptive parents in Ireland.

I am advised by the Adoption Authority that it remains absolutely committed to facilitating and recognising intercountry adoptions to the extent that children become available for adoption outside their own country and where all relevant legal requirements are fulfilled. To this end, the Authority is currently engaging with the Central Authorities in a number of countries including, India, China, USA, Bulgaria, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.