Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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657.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth whether there is any expedited process available to facilitate the adoption of orphaned children in Gaza. [25316/24]

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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There is no expedited process for intercountry adoptions, particularly in circumstances of war, civil unrest, where a natural disaster has occurred, or the displacement of people due to these events. Intercountry adoption should not be considered in the first instance as a solution/humanitarian response to these very difficult events.

Ireland is a signatory to the 1993 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, which it ratified through the enactment of the Adoption Act 2010. The process in Ireland for intercountry adoption therefore operates on the basis of the principles established by that Convention, the primary objectives of which are to provide safeguards to prevent the abduction, sale and traffic of children, and to establish a system of co-operation amongst countries in order to ensure that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of the children concerned.

It has been highlighted, particularly by UNICEF and The Hague Conference on Private International Law (the HCCH), that in such emergency situations there is an increased risk that international standards and essential safeguards for child protection are not respected. Adoption procedures should not take place during emergency situations, and those situations should not be used as a justification for expediting intercountry adoptions. Rather, in such situations, the focus should be on child protection measures, other than adoption, in line with the 1996 Hague Convention on the Protection of Children.