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I wish to
underline the urgency and concerns of prospective adoptive parents in
this matter and stress to my parliamentary colleague, the Minister of
State, Deputy Andrews, the importance of bringing these negotiations to
a conclusion. I hope he can put on record the facts surrounding the
current negotiations between Ireland and Vietnam. Of course the issues
in question are complex but prospective adoptive parents need to have
the most up-to-date information made available to them.
Obviously,
families have real concerns about a difficult process which can take
four or five years to complete. Perhaps the Minister of State will
outline what he is doing to bring the negotiations to a conclusion.
Another issue that
has arisen from this debate, particularly in the Dublin area, is the
need for staff to speed up these assessments.
Perhaps the
Minister of State can outline the communications his officials have had
with
Vietnam and
Russia regarding future bilateral adoption agreements. I hope for a
successful outcome in this.
It is important to
express our concern about the HSE's role. Obviously, international
agreements are complex and other countries are seeking post-adoption
commitments from
Ireland.
The HSE
should be pulling out all the stops to make this happen so that children
are protected. I do not think it is focusing closely enough on the
issue at present, however. At the heart of the matter are children
living in faceless institutions who deserve the comfort of a family
home.
If the Minister of
State, Deputy Barry Andrews, is required to travel to Vietnam, I urge
him to go. The Department of the Taoiseach should get involved if
representation is needed at a senior level. We should bring all the
force of the State to bear on this issue because the wait cannot be
allowed to continue. The complexities can be ironed out and I recognise
that the Minister of State is working diligently on bringing the issue
to a satisfactory conclusion.
Reply by Minister of
State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Barry Andrews:
I thank the Deputies for raising this issue and affording me the
opportunity to outline the current position on this sensitive matter.
I will begin by putting the subject of inter-country adoption into
context. Inter-country adoption has become an increasing phenomenon in
recent years. The International Social Service has estimated that
between 30,000 and 40,000 children around the world are adopted
annually. These children generally come from developing countries or
those in transition and are received by families living in
industrialised countries, particularly in Europe and North America. This
trend is reflected in Ireland, as requests for inter-country adoption
assessments are continuously increasing. A study on inter-country
adoption undertaken by the children's research centre in Trinity College
revealed that Ireland has one of the highest rates for inter-country
adoption in
Europe.
It is against this background that my office is working to create the
appropriate legislative, policy and administrative frameworks to ensure
a well regulated regime of adoption. Our aim is to support and protect
prospective parents and, more important, the children for whom adoption
services are devised and provided.
Deputies will be aware that the Adoption Bill 2009, which will give
force of law to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and
Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption, was published on 23
January 2009. A core principle of the Hague Convention is that
inter-country adoption should be child centred, that is, in all stages
of the process the child's interests must be paramount.
Legislating for inter-country adoption is essential to give protections
to children in the process of adoption.
The Hague
convention has put in place the equivalent of a contract between states
to regulate the standards that will apply in each jurisdiction. It is
an additional safeguard for a receiving country like Ireland regarding
the standards that are applied in a sending country over which we have
no jurisdiction. As a receiving country, it is especially important to
have confidence in the process of consent to the adoption, the status of
the child as adoptable and the guarantee of no improper financial gain
from the process. The convention is based on the premise that
inter-country adoption should only be considered when a suitable family
cannot be found for the child in his or her country of origin.
Accordingly, a series of options such as the child being cared for by
relatives or in a family within his or her own country are primary
considerations. The convention does not oblige a sending country to
engage in a particular number of adoptions; rather countries are advised
to engage in only as many inter-country adoptions as they can reasonably
control. The Department of Health and Children fully supports this
approach.
Despite the situation in individual countries, on a global scale fewer
children appear to be available for inter-country adoption. Many
developing countries are no longer able to release enough children to
respond to the adoption requests of receiving countries and this
situation can create pressure on sending countries which jeopardise the
paramount interests of the child.
I firmly believe that legislation and specifically the regime of the
Hague convention provides an assurance for individual children, their
families and the State that appropriate procedures have been followed
and that an adoption was carried out in the best interests of the child.
As such, it is our intention that all inter-country adoptions will now
meet the standards of the Hague convention.
Under the proposed new legislative regime, prospective adoptive parents
will be able to adopt from countries which have ratified the convention
or from those countries with which
Ireland
has a bilateral agreement based on Hague standards.
As part of the preparations for the likely passage and entry into force
of these new legislative arrangements, my office has been liaising
closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs to identify and negotiate
with countries seeking homes abroad for children in need of alternative
care which cannot be provided domestically. We are working actively to
assess the possibility of entering into bilateral agreements with a
small number of countries, including Vietnam and the Russian Federation.
In the case of
Vietnam,
we have a foundation in the form of the agreement which expired in
recent days. We have no agreement in place with
Russia
although many Irish applicants adopt from that country. We understand
there may be issues on the Russian side regarding placements with Irish
applicants. This matter appears to pertain to the provision of
post-adoption reports in respect of children already adopted in
Ireland.
I am examining the matter and will report separately and in detail to
the House on it. A meeting has taken place today between my Office and
the Russian Embassy regarding the removal of the HSE form the blacklist
issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian
Federation.
We have found that a small number of post-placement reports have not
been furnished by specific
HSE areas. They are with parents at present and we hope to be able to
bring the process to a conclusion so that we are removed from the
blacklist as soon as possible.
It is a problem which I would not like to say is entirely the fault of
the HSE. Indeed, I would say it is not the fault of the HSE in most
cases. It would be inappropriate to use the word "fault" in this
instance. I think it is simply a practice that has developed but the
Russian authorities have put their foot down and we need to respond
accordingly. My office is undertaking preparatory work on the contents
of an agreement with the
Russian Federation
which includes anticipating its likely requirements.
Work on a bilateral agreement with Vietnam has been ongoing for over 14
months. During this period, three visits have been made to
Vietnam
by officials from my office, most recently to discuss the draft text of
an agreement. As Deputies will be aware, the current agreement enabling
inter-country adoption from Vietnam to Ireland expired on 1 May. The
Government considered the agreement and the possibility of a roll over
for a five year term but, in view of the pending adoption Bill 2009 and
the serious concerns raised in other jurisdictions regarding adoption in
Vietnam, it decided it would have to negotiate a new and strengthened
agreement. This decision was communicated to the Vietnamese Government
through the appropriate diplomatic channels and a draft bilateral
agreement was provided to the Vietnamese side.
In order to progress the matter, an Irish delegation travelled to Hanoi
on the week commencing 20 April 2009, which was the earliest opportunity
to meet with the relevant Vietnamese Ministries, for an intensive round
of discussions on this draft bilateral agreement. Although significant
progress was made on the draft agreement, a number of issues remain
outstanding. These negotiations are ongoing and have not yet concluded.
I reiterate my personal commitment, and the commitment of the
Government, to continue with these discussions with a view to bringing
them to a conclusion at the earliest possible date. It is anticipated
that further proposals to advance the discussions will be made to the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the coming week. It is also anticipated
that the Vietnamese side will revert with proposals shortly.
I do not wish to speculate on the timeframe for or the outcome of these
negotiations as these factors are genuinely difficult to determine. I
can say, however, that efforts on the Irish side are intensive and will
continue in the coming weeks. There has been a high level of engagement
and it is clear from progress so far that there is a willingness on both
sides to bring these matters to a successful conclusion if at all
possible.
My colleagues in Government and I are conscious that prospective
adoptive parents find the lack of definitive information extremely
frustrating. However, it should be remembered that another sovereign
Government is party to the discussions and consequently it would be
unwise and inappropriate to air the issues or negotiate this very
sensitive matter in the public domain. As doing so may jeopardise the
prospects of concluding a new agreement, further details are not being
made available at this time. Furthermore, it is also the case that
speculation on the either the nature of the issues or the degree of
progress being made is unhelpful and may prove misleading and
distressing to those applicants currently waiting.
The situation in which we find ourselves arises through no lack of
effort on the part of the Government or engagement by the Vietnamese
side. These are complex matters and the Government is aware of the
concern and anxiety this process is causing to prospective adoptive
parents. It is also firmly committed to ensuring that arrangements
between Ireland and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam protect the best
interests of the children, their families and prospective adoptive
parents.
As Minister of State with responsibility for children and youth affairs,
I have communicated at every opportunity updates to prospective adoptive
parents and their representative groups on these matters and I have
committed to continue with this process. While every effort will be made
to conclude a bilateral agreement with countries from which children
have traditionally been adopted by Irish applicants in advance of any of
the proposed changes in Irish law taking effect, it must be acknowledged
that these matters will be determined to a considerable degree by the
governments of these sovereign states.
The adoption of any child, either domestically or from abroad, involves
a legal process and has emotional and social considerations. Although
the process can be lengthy, it is important rigorous systems are in
place in which we can all have confidence. However, we in Government
have a responsibility to ensure the best interests of these children and
all other children being adopted by Irish people are promoted and
protected. |
