Dáil Éireann - Volume 579 - 04 February, 2004

Adjournment Debate. - Foreign Adoptions.

Mr. Coveney Mr. Coveney

  Mr. Coveney:I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this issue, which was the subject of several letters I received recently. A couple came to see me over the weekend to discuss the issue because they are frustrated at the lack of progress in this area.

On 31 December 2002 Vietnam was closed to Ireland for adoptions and the only way to re-open the channels was to sign a new bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam. That agreement was signed last September, yet hundreds of couples are still waiting to adopt children. The process has been delayed since last September by the need for the President of Vietnam to sign off on the agreement and for our Department of Health and Children to do the same. There were promises that both Governments would have signed off on the bilateral agreement before the end of last year, and there was great concern when that had not happened by the time we moved into 2004. On 7 January Vietnam signed off on the agreement, so it has nothing further to do to ensure adoptions can proceed. The only obstacle now is the Department of Health and Children because it has not signed off on the agreement.

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Some Irish couples have been waiting up to three years to finalise their adoption procedures to bring children into their homes. Adopting a child from as far away as Vietnam is a long, drawn-out process, and if it is the case that the Department, the Government or any other body in Ireland is stalling the process, will the Minister of State ensure that that stalling ends as quickly as possible? The utter frustration some of the parents have expressed to me is [603] unacceptable, especially if there is no valid reason for the continued delay.

The situation is so bad that some parents' police clearance certificates and health certificates, which they obtained during the long adoption assessment process, will be out of date soon as they only last for six months. One couple has had to obtain health certificates three times to be up to date in anticipation of the agreement being signed off.

I am not interested in scoring political points. I want factual answers. Why is the process still being delayed? Will the Minister of State confirm that the Vietnamese have done all they need to do? Will the Minister of State give me a firm date for the resolution of this problem, as the Department told us it would be done early in the new year and it is now February? Families are waiting for children and children are waiting for families. Can we move this process on, fast-tracking it, if necessary? If there is a valid reason for the delay, the Minister of State should outline it because parents deserve to know it at this stage.

Mr. T. O'Malley Mr. T. O'Malley

  Mr. T. O'Malley:I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and am pleased to reply on behalf of the Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children with special responsibility for children, Deputy Brian Lenihan.

The Minister of State has taken a number of initiatives on adoption since coming into office. Work was already ongoing within the Department on legislation on adoption, one provision dealing with inter-country adoption and the establishment of the Adoption Authority and the other on the provision of adoption information and related issues. While there had been some public consultation on aspects of these proposals, the Minister decided that, in view of the huge changes in attitudes since the enactment of the primary adoption legislation in 1952, there was a need to examine the area of adoption with a view to developing new approaches for the future. A broad public consultation was held last year covering all aspects of adoption, including a successful oral consultation in October. The results of this consultation process are being examined and it is hoped that proposals will be ready for submission to Government in late spring.

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In recent years there have been changes in adoption trends and the growth of adoption by Irish parents of children from other countries in particular has been a significant development. One of the issues raised during the consultation process was inter-country adoption and the overwhelming consensus was that Ireland should move to ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Intercountry Adoption. The Hague Convention provides [604] a child-centred basis on which to provide for inter-country adoption and is of particular importance in ensuring that the best interests of the child are kept to the forefront in all decisions made. The proposals submitted to Government will include proposals for ratification of the Hague Convention.

In the meantime much work has been done by health boards and the Adoption Board to ensure that existing practices are carried out in accordance with the high standards set by the Hague Convention. The introduction of the standardised framework for assessment for inter-country adoption was a major step forward in this regard and one which was welcomed by parents, support groups and practitioners. The standardised framework is now in use throughout the country.

Some of the countries from which we adopt prefer to operate on the basis of a bilateral agreement. The Adoption Board has entered into working arrangements with the authorities in Thailand, China, Belarus and the Philippines. In the past we had a state-to-state agreement with Romania but, due to concerns about whether the best interests of children were being properly looked after, Romania has suspended inter-country adoptions and is working to draft new legislation to ensure best practice.

The Vietnamese authorities decided that, from the end of 2002, adoptions would only be allowed to countries with which a bilateral agreement was in place. During 2002 the Adoption Board tried to develop such an agreement, but the Vietnamese authorities wished to have an agreement at state level. The Minister of State, Deputy Lenihan, contacted the Irish ambassador and, in March last year, a delegation headed by the ambassador to Malaysia and Vietnam negotiated a bilateral agreement on inter-country adoption.

Both Ireland and Vietnam signed the agreement and Vietnam ratified it on 7 January 2004.

The Adoption Board has been working with its counterparts in Vietnam to set up the practical arrangements and procedures for Vietnamese adoptions. In the meantime, the Department of Foreign Affairs is examining options to enable ratification of the agreement by the State as soon as possible. Under the terms of the agreement, adoptions can recommence 30 days after Ireland has ratified the agreement.

As this is a state-to-state agreement, the terms have to be examined very closely to ensure that the State can meet its international obligations. The Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is confident that we will be in a position to ratify the agreement soon, following completion of the necessary work within the two Departments.

   The Dáil adjourned at 11.25 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 5 February 2004.

Dáil Éireann 579 Adjournment Debate. Foreign Adoptions.

General Debate

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