Nora Owen
Question:5 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health whether he intends to introduce amending legislation to the Adoption Act, 1952, in order that adoptions, legally carried out in other countries, are legally recognised in Ireland.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Foreign Adoptions.
Nora Owen
Question:25 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health if he has met with the group of parents who have adopted children in Romania with a view to ensuring that they can be guaranteed a legal Irish adoption.
Nora Owen
Question:75 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health if he has met with the special group set up by parents who have adopted Romanian children; if not, when he proposes to meet with this group; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5, 25 and 75 together.
I appreciate the desire of people who have adopted children in Romania and elsewhere to have their status regularised under Irish law. This is a very complex matter involving questions of national and international law but I am anxious to be as helpful as I can. I am in consultation with the Attorney General on the matter and I have arranged a meeting with the group representing the adoptive parents of Romanian children.
Does the Minister accept that due to the dramatic decrease in the number of children available for adoption in this State, an increasing number of Irish couples are adopting outside Ireland?
Will the Minister acknowledge that there is an urgent need for legislation to provide for the recognition of foreign adoption orders? Will he indicate whether it is his intention to bring before the House, either prior to the Christmas recess or early in the Dáil session after Christmas, legislation to implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in regard to foreign adoption orders and their recognition? Has the Minister given any consideration to the contents of that report?
The adoption of foreign babies by Irish people is a new development. As Deputy Shatter realises, all our law is national law dealing with Irish infants. As the Deputy also appreciates, adoption law is complex and difficult. Indeed when new law was introduced in the past, it was necessary to hold a referendum on one occasion and on another the Bill was referred to the Supreme Court before it was enacted. As I said, I am in consultation with the Attorney General because we are anxious to be as helpful as possible in view of the number of people adopting Romanian babies.
Will the Minister indicate whether he has read the report published by the Law Reform Commission in June 1989, a year and a half ago? Does the Minister intend to implement the recommendations of that report? Will he indicate where he believes the Law Reform Commission found constitutional difficulties with the recognition of foreign adoption orders? Finally, in view of the fact that more than 100 couples from Ireland are reported to have adopted children in Romania during the first ten months of this year, may I ask the Minister to take steps to ensure that social workers, at least those attached to health boards, will assist the authorities in Romania and those couples by undertaking social work assessment reports so as to ensure that when adoption orders are made outside Ireland they are made in respect of couples who are appropriate to adopt? The couples involved want such reports undertaken but the health boards will not co-operate with them.
While the Law Reform Commission dealt with the question of foreign adoptions they did not indicate the basis on which designations should be made, apart from observing that recognition would probably be confined to countries whose legal, social and political structures are similar to our own, presumably with the European Community. this is a complex area and we are examining it with the Attorney General. As I have said, we want to be as helpful as possible and will certainly look at what assistance health boards can give to people who are going to Romania to adopt.
I want to ask a final brief supplementary. Does the Minister accept that the difficulties in this area result in children adopted abroad being regarded as second-class children in our legal system because their adoptions are not recognised in Ireland? It is a matter of substantial urgency that we tackle this problem so as to ensure that those children do not end up in the same legal limbo in which illegitimate children found themselves in years gone by? Will the Minister indicate whether he has any intention at this stage to bring legislation before this House to tackle this problem this side of Christmas and, if not, in 1991? From what the Minister has said it appears the Government have no plans to do anything about this problem.
Obviously, the Deputy did not listen to what I said.
The Minister has had the Law Reform Commission report for a year and a half.
I was erroneously of the opinion that the Deputy might have known something about Irish adoption law.
I know a great deal more about it than the Minister.
As I said, the law is complex and difficult. We are having discussions with the Attorney General and we want to be helpful. We would not be doing a service to Irish people seeking to adopt abroad or the infants if we rushed willy-nilly into law.
When is the Minister going to do something about it?
I would have thought the Deputy would have been one of the first to accept that.
Deputy Yates for a final question.
Is the Minister aware that foreign adoptions of Romanian children are running at the rate of about three per week and that there is a very substantial demand for such adoptions? In regard to the Taoiseach's strictures about the Order of Business may I, for future reference, ask the Minister if he is promising legislation in this area, yes or no?
No. I said nothing which would amount to a promise of legislation in this area.
The Minister is promising to do nothing.
Our party will have to introduce legislation.
I said I was examining this with the Attorney General. I get my legal advice from the Attorney General.
This is pathetic.
I want to be helpful and if legislation is needed we will introduce it.
We will have to introduce a Private Members' Bill.
Question No. 6.
We will have to do something again.
If this is an indication of the new direction of the Fianna Fáil Party in regard to social issues God help us.
Please, Deputy Shatter. Deputies had a series of questions and received some answers on this topic.
The hillbillies are back.
They never left.