India: Hague Convention state. The Indian NCA (known as CARA) clearly indicated in mid-2011 that it would NOT be accepting packs from any country until further notice. The NCA has not been in contact with the AAI since then regarding this matter. There is evidence of a new online ‘CARINGS’ registration system being unilaterally implemented by CARA. The AAI has not been invited to participate in this new system. AAI has attempted to contact the NCA on a number of occasions and has decided to visit India as soon as practicable. Irish applicants should NOT attempt to effect a private (non-Hague Convention) adoption in India and NOR should they proceed with ‘guardianship’ proceedings under the Guardianship and Wards Act 1896. The AAI will not accept Declaration of Eligibility & Suitability applications nor issue new Declarations pending the proposed visit to India. Refer to country specific advisories.

Vietnam: Hague Convention state since 1 February 2012. VN is not currently accepting packs from Ireland. The draft text of an Administrative Arrangement has been submitted to the VN NCA. Both the VN Minister for Justice and the Director General of the Adoption Department of the MoJ have been invited to Ireland. An Irish based Accredited Body has been accredited by the AAI for work in VN. Applications from two further bodies are under consideration. The AAI will not accept applications nor issue new Declarations pending an administrative agreement being reached. Irish applicants should not attempt to effect a private (non-Hague) adoption in Vietnam. Refer to country specific advisories.

Kazakhstan: Hague Convention state. The Kazakhstan NCA has been asked to confirm whether it will accept packs from Ireland. Irish applicants should not attempt to effect a private (non-Hague) adoption in Kazakhstan. Refer to country specific advisories.

Florida: Discussions regarding a proposed Administrative Arrangement under the Hague Convention are ongoing. Irish applicants should not attempt to effect a private (non-Hague) adoption in Florida. Refer to country specific advisories.

Bulgaria: Hague Convention state. Applications will be accepted from Ireland via ARC Adoptions Ltd. in collaboration with one of three Bulgarian ASPs (Adoption Service Providers) licenced for Ireland. The average age of children will be five years +; however younger children, and children with special needs, may be adopted. The Bulgarian NCA formally advises that the waiting period for younger children will be considerably longer than for older children. Irish applicants should not attempt to effect a private (non-Hague) adoption in Bulgaria. Refer to country specific advisories.

Mexico: Hague Convention state. Applications will be accepted from Ireland via the Mexican Federal NCA ONLY. The NCA has informed the AAI that only children of 5 Years + will be available for adoption from Mexico with the two possible exceptions of special needs and sibling groups only. All applications for entries in the RICA are ‘on hold’ pending clarification from the Mexican NCA on the status of the adoptions already effected. Irish applicants should not attempt to effect a private (non-Hague) adoption in Mexico. Refer to country specific advisories.

Russia: NON-Hague Convention state. Russia is only open to holders of pre 1 November 2010 Declaration of Eligibility & Suitability as issued by the former Adoption Board prior to 1 November 2010. A first DRAFT of a template bi-lateral agreement has been submitted by the Russians to the AAI and is currently with legal advisors. Refer to country specific advisories.

Ethiopia : NON-Hague state. Ethiopia is only open to holders of pre 1 November 2010 Declaration of Eligibility & Suitability as issued by the former Adoption Board prior to 1 November 2010. Applicants are advised to pay utmost particular attention to country specific advisories in this case. The AAI will visit Ethiopia shortly

Frances Fitzgerald acknowledged the difference in language used “pre-Hague and post-Hague”. But she stressed “it is extremely important that there is no implication that there was anything wrong with those adoptions. Those adoptions went through the processes that were in place at the time and were registered with the Adoption Authority of Ireland.

The Hague Adoption Convention on the protection of children and co-operation for inter-country adoption aims to safeguard inter-country adoptions.

Ms Fitzgerald stressed that “there is absolutely no need either for anyone to be concerned about those adoptions or to raise any particular questions about the processes at the time”. But, she said, “we are in a new situation now with Hague where there are specific standards and particular agreements with countries, criteria which have to be met and it is a new situation”.

The Minister was winding up a Dáil debate over recent weeks on inter-country adoption. Last night, Labour Dublin North TD Brendan Kenny highlighted the commentary on parents in the process of adoption, both by the media and “regrettably by the Irish State itself”.

He said adoptive parents “are often described as being desperate and so focused on completing an adoption that they have no regard for or interest in the ethical issues concerned and this is anything but true”. He said “nobody is more concerned with ethical issues than the parents involved” who wanted to provide a loving, caring and safe home.

He said the bilateral agreement with Vietnam which was “allowed to lapse” in 2009, was a good agreement. “During its operation it was repeatedly represented by the adoption authority at the time as a model that should be followed.”

He said the previous government and ministers referred to the Unicef report on inter-country adoption and “their profound concerns about the systems in place”.

Mr Kenny said this report was “primarily concerned with American adoptions which operated on a very different basis from those taking place under the Irish agreement.” He said repeated reference to the report caused great hurt to adoptive families.

“To place a question mark over adoptions which are both ethical and legal can only damage the interests of the children involved.”

Emphasising that there was nothing wrong with the adoptions that took place before the primacy of the Hague Convention, Ms Fitzgerald said Ireland was in a “transition period in relation to adoption”.

Many of the countries Ireland adopted from, including Russia and Ethiopia, had not signed the convention and couples who had adopted from those countries and were hoping to adopt from them again were “in a different situation”.

 Article 2 of the Convention states that the Convention SHALL apply to all intercountry adoptions between two contracting States.

 On 1 July 2011, the AAI was notified by the Indian National Central Authority (NCA) – known as CARA, that CARA would not be accepting dossiers from Irish applicants either until 30 September 2011 or until further notice.

CARA has not been in touch with the AAI since that date.

It has come to the attention of the AAI that CARA proposes to introduce a new computerised e-access system of online dossier registration which would appear essentially to present many features of a monthly ‘lottery’ type process. To date, CARA has not invited the AAI to participate in such a scheme. The AAI has recently attempted to contact CARA on a number of occasions to discuss this matter and a number of other important matters, but without success to date.

The AAI now proposes to visit CARA / India as soon as is practicable.

Should CARA invite Ireland / AAI to participate in a new intercountry adoption scheme between the two countries, the invitation will be given careful consideration by the Board of the AAI, taking into account the advice of the Irish Embassy to India and the Hague Conventions Permanent Bureau in The Hague.

In the event of a resumption of intercountry adoptions between Ireland and India, ‘expressions of interest’ may be sought from registered Accredited Bodies in Ireland to facilitate adoptions between the two countries.

Applicants are reminded that the Article 15 (i.e. the HSE/Agency Assessment Report on the Applicants), the Article 16 Child Report and the Article 17 (Placement Approval Notice from the AAI) can only be transmitted via the relevant NCA or by a body which is registered and accredited to do so within the relevant jurisdiction.

As stated above, adoptions between Ireland and India must comply with the terms and conditions of the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. There is no role whatsoever in the process for individual ‘facilitators’ to secure referrals and to process adoptions. Irish Prospective Adoptive Parents (PAPs) should not and must not pay for the services of such private ‘facilitators’.

Persons should NOT proceed with PRIVATE (non-Hague Convention) adoptions from India.

Please also refer to previous advisory notices below.

HAGUE COUNTRIES – INDIA – 21 SEPTEMBER 2011

The Adoption Authority of Ireland’s advisory of 15th June, 2011 noted the active consideration of intercountry adoption from India and engagement between the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Indian Central Authority on the issue. Further to this and other inquiries made, the AAI wishes to advise all prospective adoptive parents as follows:

1. An Article 17 certificate approves the decision that the State of Origin may entrust a child to prospective adoptive parents (Article 17 of the Hague Convention, as referenced in Schedule 1 of the Adoption Act, 2010 refers). Article 17 approval is a requirement to proceed to effect an adoption in accordance the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

2. Prior to the commencement of the Adoption Act, 2010, applicants may have sought and been granted an order of Guardianship under Indian law. In such cases, a subsequent application for an adoption under Irish law was made and considered by the Adoption Board. This approach appears to have arisen, at least in part, from custom and practice although full / plenary adoption became an option in India under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000.

3. The Adoption Act, 2010 takes account of the fact that the laws of some countries of origin do not provide for full adoption.

4. Applicants are advised that the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 of India provides for full/plenary adoption

5. While each application before the Authority has individual features, in general adoptions effected under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 (as amended) and in respect of which an Article 23 Certificate has been provided, will fall to be registered under Section 57(2) of the Act.

6. In India in some cases, children may be placed under an order of guardianship.

7. Applications received in which the child has been placed with the applicants under an order of Guardianship will need to be made under Section 68 of the Adoption Act, 2010.

8. The provisions of Section 68 may, in some cases, require referral by the applicants to the High Court with the concomitant costs that this would entail. Such referrals will relate primarily to issues of consent (Section 68(2) refers).

9. In other words, failure to effect a full/plenary adoption in India may result, in some cases, in an application for an entry in the Register of Intercountry Adoptions being subject to High Court proceedings. The Authority cannot predict the outcome of any such applications to the High Court.

10. For these reasons, from the date of this advisory, the Authority is recommending that all applicants seek to proceed to effect a full/plenary adoption in India.

11. The Central Authority of India has been advised of the foregoing.

The information provided in the previous advisory in respect of adoptions from India still stands. As soon as further information is available it will be posted on the Authority’s website.

This information should be read in conjunction with the Authority’s general advisory in respect of Hague Convention Countries.

 A spokeswoman said improved fertility treatments meant women had a greater chance of getting pregnant and giving birth.

 The other serious factor, of course, is the number of people who are unemployed or on reduced incomes who simply cannot afford the expense of air fares to foreign countries or the financial strain of being responsible for another child.

The HSE has also claimed delays faced by Irish people waiting to get clearance to adopt from abroad have reduced.

All prospective adoptive parents have to undergo assessment first by the HSE to determine how suitable they are — a process that used to be a huge source of grievance because it dragged out for several years.

Inter-country adoption made international headlines recently after it was revealed 11 Irish couples ended up being investigated by police in Mexico after it emerged babies they intended to adopt were part of a child-trafficking ring.

The couples have since returned home but the Adoption Authority here had issued several warnings that these kind of private adoptions were against the law.

The Irish Independent reported last year that there were 200 inter-country adoptions between January and November 2011, compared to a high of 397 in 2008.

The HSE said recently that in general there were now “no waiting times” for second assessment across the country.

“In the Dublin service, applicants get the pack at their request and have no timeframe to submit it. They can return it when they are ready to proceed.

“Once the pack is received and processed (garda clearances, medical checks and child protection clearances) it takes no longer than 18 months to compete the entire process.

“The breakdown involves three months for a group preparation course with other prospective adoptive parents, followed by the allocation of a social worker six to eight weeks later, three months for the social work assessment, four weeks to write up the assessment report and two to three weeks for the local adoption committee to consider the report and the social work presentation.”

After this, the application goes to the Adoption Authority and three to four months later they are issued with a final determination of their application. Within the Dublin service, many applicants complete the process within 12 months.

The HSE was given permission to outsource some of this assessment work to outside agencies in order to free up its own staff and speed up the process but it has not yet availed of the services.

Meanwhile, talks are under way to expand the number of countries available to Irish people to adopt children from.

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said a limited number of adoptions were currently being processed under transitional arrangements and they could take place up to the end of October 2013.

These are people who were deemed suitable to adopt, before the cut-off point in November 2010, and can still adopt from Russia although it is not part of the Hague Convention countries.

“Russia has not ratified the Hague Convention and there appears to be no immediate prospect that this will happen.”

She said an official delegation from Ireland recently visited Russia and held preliminary discussions regarding the potential for a bilateral agreement.

“I am awaiting an assessment from the Adoption Authority which will inform the next steps to be taken in relation to this matter,” said the minister.

The Adoption Authority has approved ARC Adoption Ltd as a registered accredited body for the purposes of adoption mediation within Vietnam and further applications from other bodies remain under consideration. Accredited agencies also require the approval of the Vietnamese authorities.

Title: Creating a Lifebook – An Interative Workshop

Time: 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Venue: Hilton Hotel, Kilmainham, Dublin  http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/DUBKMHI-Hilton-Dublin-Kilmainham/index.do

Cost Per Family:  €30 – 1 parent 1 child, €50   2 parents 2 children, €70   2 parents 3 children

Click here to purchase tickets: Family 1 adult 1 child     Family 2 adults 2 children   Family 2 adults 3 children

 IAA Members Only.  Pre-booking essential to attend. Registration closes 10th February 2012.

In relation to Mexico, the Authority has posted seven advisories on its website since October 2010; it has worked with the Irish Embassy in Mexico and with the Mexican authorities. A delegation from the Authority undertook a formal visit to the Mexican National Central Authority in Mexico on 9th December 2011 and the Authority is in regular contact with that Authority. The Adoption Authority of Ireland awaits further information from the Mexican National Central Authority on the investigations that it is conducting.

With regard to intercountry adoptions from Mexico already registered, the Authority has no evidence to date that these registrations are affected by recent developments. It is not appropriate for the Adoption Authority to comment on individual cases.

 Finally, it is important to reiterate that adoption is a service for children.

Under the act, which came into force in Nov 2010, Irish people can only adopt from countries that have ratified the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption or with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement.

Responding to a parliamentary question, Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald said, although no intercountry adoptions had been registered by parents declared suitable to adopt under the new act, this was due to a number of factors.

“It should be noted that waiting times between the sending of an application pack and the actual completion of an adoption in sending countries may vary greatly and may extend to as much as three years or more in some cases.”

“Furthermore, some jurisdictions require a two stage process which entails post-placement reports being submitted during an initial period of guardianship before an adoption is approved and finalised,” she said.

The Adoption Authority has issued 178 declarations of eligibility and suitability to people wishing to adopt from abroad since the introduction of the new act.

Meanwhile, Ms Fitzgerald has also confirmed that an adoption agency accredited to work with Vietnam should be in place at the start of February.

Ireland ceased adopting children from Vietnam after it chose not to resume its bilateral agreement in May 2009 following concerns in Unicef’s International Social Services report.

The US had suspended adoptions from Vietnam in 2008 after it uncovered evidence of baby selling and “baby farming”. It is believed Ireland’s decision was influenced by similar concerns.

The suspension remains in place until “fundamental reforms are in place to ensure a transparent child welfare system that has the best interests of the children as its first priority”, the state department has said.

Deputy Pat Breen:    I welcome the opportunity to raise the important issue of intercountry adoptions. I commend the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs on the excellent job she has done since taking over her portfolio. She has rightly placed the welfare of our children at the heart of Government. With intercountry adoptions, she inherited the previous Government’s decision in January 2010 to suspend indefinitely our bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam, which left hundreds of families in limbo. Little if any effort was expended on rectifying this situation before she assumed office. I know from working with a number of families in County Clare and elsewhere that they are appreciative of her efforts and the speed with which she has acted.

As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade I take a great interest in intercountry adoptions. I am in regular contact with a number of families and I believe that the renewed diplomatic efforts undertaken by this Government have influenced the decision by the Vietnamese Government to ratify the Hague Convention, which will come into effect on 1 February.

In September I visited Vietnam in my role as Chairman of the committee and I met Vietnam’s Justice Minister at the request of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy O’Sullivan, has since met the Vietnamese Minister and the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, has just returned from a visit to Vietnam. I found the Justice Minister and the Vietnamese Government very supportive and anxious to renew our bilateral arrangements. I was not surprised when they lodged their documentation for ratification with the Hague Convention on 1 November.

I am aware that a number of technical issues remain to be addressed but significant progress has been made. I ask the Minister to update me on her visit to Vietnam and what she now expects in terms of a final agreement. A number of families are anxious to know when they might expect to be able to recommence their adoption proceedings.

Following my visit to Vietnam a number of families contacted me regarding the possibility of negotiating a bilateral intercountry adoption agreement with Ethiopia. When I raised the matter with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, in Addis Ababa he assured me that he would bring my concerns to the attention of his relevant Cabinet colleges. I understand the Minister has given authorisation to the chairman of the Adoption Authority, Geoffrey Shannon, to open discussions with officials in Ethiopia with a view to entering into a bilateral arrangement. I welcome this initiative and I would be grateful if she could update me on those discussions.

We read in Sunday’s newspapers the disturbing news about illegal adoptions in Mexico. I realise the Minister may be constrained from speaking in detail on this matter due to possible proceedings. I understand three Mexican women have been arrested and seven babies have been taken into state care. It has been suggested that a number of Irish couples may be involved. Reports suggest that children were bought from cash strapped mothers and then handed over to foreign couples who were looking to adopt. It is an appalling situation. The Adoption Authority has warned parents against entering into private arrangements with agencies or individuals in Mexico and it has been working to formalise procedures between our countries. It is very important that we put in place formal bilateral arrangements which guarantee protection for the adopted child, who must come first. I ask the Minister to comment on this issue, if she is able to do so, and to indicate the progress made on formal arrangements between Mexico and Ireland.

Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald):    I thank Deputy Breen for raising this matter, which is of great interest to many Members of this House. I commend him on the important work he has done as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on behalf of my Department during his recent visit to Vietnam.

The Hague Convention on lntercountry Adoption will enter into force in Vietnam on 1 February 2012. This is a significant milestone in seeking to promote a secure basis for intercountry adoption between our two countries, which was effectively in suspension for the past two years.

I have just returned from a useful visit to Vietnam that focused on intercountry adoption. My recent visit to Hanoi provided an opportunity for direct, personal engagement with relevant Vietnamese officials. I have engaged at a political and diplomatic level and my trip coincided with a visit by a delegation from the Adoption Authority of Ireland led by Mr. Geoffrey Shannon. While I was in Hanoi I was briefed on the programme of work that the Vietnamese Government has undertaken to complete the ratification process and improve its systems of adoption. It introduced new adoption legislation and there is a greater motivation to ensure all adoptions are processed centrally. It also wants to improve its systems of child protection and adoption, particularly domestic adoptions.

I met the Vietnamese Justice Minister, Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, who specifically asked me to inform Irish families that Vietnam is ready to implement the Hague Convention and that it is the Vietnamese Government’s desire to co-operate with Ireland in respect of intercountry adoption of children for whom suitable families cannot be found in Vietnam. I particularly raised the issue of the 19 families who were caught just at the time when adoptions stopped two years ago and the 200 families who have been assessed. There is major sensitivity towards these families and they will be prioritised.

There are a number of key steps which must be undertaken next. We need to have an administrative agreement with Vietnam; that is the way to ensure best practice. This was the subject of separate discussions by the Adoption Authority of Ireland, AAI, with the relevant body in Vietnam. The authority is continuing its work on the accreditation of agencies, which is essential. We need an agency or agencies that will assist adoptive couples in Vietnam, and I am assured that this will be done by 1 February, which will lead to a further opening of inter-country adoption between the two countries. I have also invited the Vietnamese Minister for justice to visit Ireland. I am hopeful that, pending the developments I have mentioned, we will see inter-country adoptions beginning again between Ireland and Vietnam in the coming weeks or months. However, it is a changed situation, as the focus will be on domestic adoption first.

With regard to Ethiopia, some adoptions are currently being effected under transitional arrangements. They go ahead. However, I must inform the House that Ethiopia is not a signatory to the Hague Convention and, therefore, following the lapse of the transitional arrangements that currently exist, if we intend to continue adoptions from Ethiopia, a bilateral agreement will be necessary. Under section 73 of the Adoption Act, if I give the authority to the AAI to begin discussions with a non-contracting state to the Hague Convention, that can happen. We would need, if we were to do that, to analyse the current situation in Ethiopia and consider the compatibility of the laws between the two countries and the plans Ethiopia has to sign the Hague Convention. I gave approval very recently to commence the process of examining the feasibility of a bilateral agreement with Ethiopia, and the AAI has confirmed that it has commenced this process. I am conscious of the many families that have adopted from Ethiopia already and that they would like to see adoptions beginning again, but I must emphasise that as Ethiopia is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, this would require the negotiation of a bilateral agreement covering the key issues of consent and the circumstances that might apply if there were to be further adoptions.

The Deputy also asked about the events in Mexico recently which have received extensive coverage. The chairman of the AAI has commented publicly on the recent events. I must point out that comprehensive and clear guidelines about adoptions in Mexico have been on the AAI website for the past 15 months. I asked the AAI to visit Mexico and it did so earlier last year. I commend the authority on the work it has been doing with a whole range of countries. It had, I believe, seven advisories on its website to inform couples of how they should proceed if Mexico was their country of choice for adoption. I reiterate that the Mexican authority has stated there is no provision for private adoptions in the context of inter-country adoption between Ireland and Mexico. On that basis, prospective adoptive parents are and have been advised by the AAI not to enter into any private arrangements with individuals or private agencies in order to effect an adoption in Mexico, which is a signatory to the Hague Convention. That is very clear. Anyone considering Mexico as a country of origin should consult the AAI website for the latest advisory. Those who have already adopted from that jurisdiction or who are in the process of doing so should also refer to the authority’s advice, which was issued on 16 January, and there will be further advisories.

The unfortunate developments we have seen in recent weeks underline the vital role of the authority in overseeing the implementation of the Hague Convention and the standards that apply between countries – the standards that must apply if we are to have the protection of children at the centre of our priorities. We want to promote the very best interests of children in our adoption policy nationally and internationally, and that is what is behind the information that is given to people by the AAI. If we do that, it will lead to high-quality decision making with regard to inter-country adoption, and the right decisions being made for children and indeed for parents.

Deputy Pat Breen:    I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. I thought it was important to raise this issue on the record, because there are many concerned couples out there. As the Minister said, there are 19 couples that were almost on the point of adoption before the agreement was broken. I am delighted to hear the Minister say that any difficulties with the agencies will be sorted out before 1 February. That is important. As I said, I have been contacted by couples not only in my own constituency, but also outside my constituency. Much work has been done in this regard by the Minister in a very short period. Bilateral relations with Vietnam, not just in the area of adoptions, have also improved substantially as a result of the Minister’s visit and those of the former Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Jan O’Sullivan, and myself as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade. I look forward to more progress in this regard.

I know the Minister probably cannot give a timescale for the resumption of adoptions, but that is what every couple wants to know, particularly with regard to Vietnam. When does she think adoptions could proceed again? It is a difficult question as there are still some hurdles to jump, but I know she and her officials in the Department will be working closely with the Vietnamese officials to ensure that any concerns are resolved quickly and that the couples who want to adopt a Vietnamese child can do so as quickly as possible. I believe there are about 800 adopted Vietnamese children already in the country, and when they grow up they will want to know about their culture and heritage. I have visited some of the parents and seen how the children are cherished and loved. However, I also understand the point of view of the Vietnamese Government, which wants to deal with the area of domestic adoptions. I thank the Minister again for her reply.

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald:    Since taking office, I have been trying to bring clarity to the area of inter-country adoption. That applies to Vietnam, Russia and Ethiopia – whichever countries we are talking about. For adoptions to take place between two countries, ideally both countries will have signed the Hague Convention; if not, there should be a bilateral agreement. Many Irish parents have already adopted from a range of countries, some of which do not have a bilateral agreement with us. Often, they are anxious to adopt again from the same country. However, the absence of bilateral agreements does make for some difficulties. What I wanted to ensure was that there was no drift and that parents would remain informed. This is why I have, in recent weeks, asked the AAI to send representatives to Florida, Russia, Ethiopia and Vietnam to try to achieve clarity with regard to those countries. We can comment on other countries another time.

With regard to the timescale, two issues must be dealt with before the adoption process can reopen: Vietnam must sign the Hague Convention, which it will do on 1 February, and Ireland needs to have accredited agencies to work there with the couples. My understanding is that both of those issues will be dealt with by 1 February. The contents of the administrative agreement have been agreed. There are some technical difficulties outstanding, but we believe they can be resolved in a number of weeks. The chairman of the AAI is confident they can be resolved fairly quickly.

Inter-country adoption between Ireland and Vietnam will begin to open up again, but I emphasise that because of our new Adoption Act, the standards that apply in the Hague Convention and the new procedures in Vietnam for domestic adoption, it is a different situation. When a child is available for adoption, the Vietnamese authorities must first check whether there are people in Vietnam who wish to adopt him or her, and that will be a priority. Children with special needs will not be in that position, however. The authorities inform me that families will be asked whether they would like to adopt a child with special needs directly, without the need for a domestic adoption procedure. The work there will relate mainly to intercountry adoption.

It is a changed situation. We will put more information up on the websites of both the Adoption Authority and the Department so parents will be as fully informed as possible. That is the best information I can give the Deputy at this point.

“Since coming into office I have prioritised the development of a closer working relationship with the Vietnamese authorities on adoption.  I know that this is an issue of enormous interest to prospective adopters from Ireland.  My visit to Hanoi over recent days provided the opportunity for direct, personal enagagement with Vietnamese conterparts and was very positive in furthering cooperation between our two countries on intercountry adoption.”

The Minister was accompanied by officials from her Department and the Adoption Authority of Ireland, including Mr Geoffrey Shannon, Chairman of the Adoption Authority.  She had meetings with a range of Vietnamese Government representatives, including the Minister for Justice Mr Ha  Hung Cuong, and other organisations based in Hanoi.

The Minister said that:

“I heard at first hand details of the programme of work that the Vietnamese Government has undertaken to complete the ratification of Hague and improve their systems for adoption within the country.  This process will see the Hague Convention enter into force in Vietnam on 1 February next and this provides a basis on which to renew cooperation between Ireland and Vietnam on adoption.

The Vietnamese Minister for Justice, Mr Ha  Hung Cuong, asked me to convey to Irish families that “Vietnam is ready to implement the Hague Convention” and that “it is the Vietnamese Government’s desire to co-operate with Ireland in respect of intercountry adoption of children for whom a suitable family cannot be found in Vietnam.”

Following on from the meetings of recent days a number of further initiatives will take place to further strengthen cooperation:

- The two Central Authorities for Adoption (the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Department of Adoption in the Vietnamese Minsistry of Justice) will work jointly on administrative arrangements between the two countries to oversee adoptions. This will include a planned visit to Ireland by the Director General of the Vietnamese Department of Adoption, Mr Nguyen van Binh.

- The Adoption Authority of Ireland will complete the accreditation of one or more adoption agencies to work in Vietnam in order to assist Irish couples and liaise with the Vietnamese Central Authority.  The Adoption Authority of Ireland has advised Minister Fitzgerald that it expects to complete this accreditation process by 1 February, following which the Vietnamese authorities will be advised of the outcome.

- Minister Fitzgerald invited Mr Ha  Hung Cuong, the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, to Ireland and Mr Ha  Hung Cuong accepted this invitation. The visit will provide an opportunity to further deepen relations between the two countries on adoption and support cooperation in a range of other areas of mutual interest. 

The Minister paid tribute to the Adoption Authority of Ireland and the Irish Embassy in Vietnam for their ongoing work in fostering a close working relationship with the Vietnamese adoption authorities which formed the basis of the successful visit.  The Minister said that:

 ”The Vietnamese Government was very positive in saying that Irish families have provided loving homes for many Vietnamese children already and that, following the entry into force of the Hague Convention, they look forward to renewing their relationship with Ireland.  Some 800 Vietnamese children have in the past been adopted by Irish families. I am confident that the work underway in Vietnam and the very close cooperation between our two countries, which has been greatly strengthened with this visit, will ensure the  intercountry adoption of Vietnamese children will involve Irish families, where it is in the best interests of those children to be adopted abroad. 

 It is important that all adoptions take place within a child protection framework that operates in the best interests of children.  The commitment of Vietnam and Ireland to jointly working together within the Hague framework will strengthen protections for children and facilitate strong cooperation between the two countries on inter country adoption.”