Written answers
Tuesday, 17 June 2014
Department of Children and Youth Affairs
Inter-Country Adoptions
Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)
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794. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if a review of the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency has been conducted; and if he will provide details of the nature, scope, date of completion and outcome of any inquires carried out by the then Adoption Board arising from comments in the 2009 ISS report. [25686/14]
Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The Adoption Authority of Ireland is the central authority in Ireland for intercountry adoption. Agencies are accredited by the Adoption Authority to provide mediation services in relation to intercountry adoption to assist prospective adoptive parents with the adoption process in respect of particular countries. The operation of such bodies is seen as an additional safeguard for countries in the conduct of the adoption process and is considered good practice by the Hague authorities. Monitoring and oversight of these agencies is solely a matter for the Adoption Authority.
The Authority have informed me that, as a result of the Report of the International Social Service ("Assessment of the Adoption System in Vietnam", May-June 2009 by Mr. Herve Boechat, Mr. Nigel Cantwell and Ms. Mia Dambach), the former Adoption Board raised a number of queries with Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency relating to level of humanitarian aid, transport costs, medical costs, passport costs, and translations costs. Discussions on these queries were ongoing and remained outstanding when the former Adoption Board was disbanded on 31 October 2010.
The Authority have stated that these queries were again addressed when HHAMA applied for, and was granted, accreditation by the Adoption Authority of Ireland for facilitating adoptions from Vietnam in June 2012.
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