Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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28. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide an update in relation to engagements his Department has had with his counterpart in Belarus with a view to concluding an agreement on inter-country adoptions between Ireland and Belarus; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35434/14]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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It is a matter for the Adoption Authority of Ireland to identify suitable Hague Convention countries and to engage with those Central Authorities to pursue administrative agreements to facilitate Hague compliant intercountry adoptions. The Adoption Authority of Ireland advises that while Belarus ratified the Hague Convention in July 2003, the Belarusian authorities suspended intercountry adoptions to all countries in 2004 to facilitate a review of Belarusian adoption laws, procedures and practices. The Authority advises that this suspension continues.

Complex constitutional and legal issues arise with regard to a number of criteria proposed by the Republic of Belarus in relation to intercountry adoption arrangements. These include the production of post-adoption reports, registration of the adopted child at the Belarusian embassy in London and consular visits to the homes of adoptive parents.