Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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493. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her plans for opening the adoption programme between Ireland and Haiti; and if she will prioritise that programme in view of the fact that there are more than 30,000 children in institutions in that country, that many Irish families are approved for inter-country adoption and there are many links between Ireland and Haiti. [38755/16]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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Haiti ratified the Hague Convention on 1 April 2014. In May 2014 the Adoption Authority of Ireland accredited Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency to facilitate inter country adoption between Ireland and Haiti. Helping Hands applied for accreditation by Institut du Bien-Être Social et de Recherches (IBESR), the central authority of inter country adoption in Haiti. The Authority has recently advised the Department that Helping Hands has been formally approved by IBESR to mediate adoptions from Haiti.

A preliminary meeting is scheduled between the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs to examine the feasibility of progressing this matter further.