I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 and 66 together.
I am satisfied that the health boards are well aware of their statutory duties under the Adoption Act, 1991, and that they have been taking appropriate steps to fulfil those duties.
I am not aware that any health board personnel are discouraging couples from adopting abroad. If the Deputy has details of such cases, I will, on receipt of this information from him, make inquiries regarding these cases with the relevant health boards.
What I am aware of is that the detailed guidelines issued to health boards and registered adoption societies by the Adoption Board, which have a central role in the administration of the legislation, emphasise that part of the assessment process must involve counselling and advising the proposed adopters on the complexities and potential hazards of inter-country adoption. This is a perfectly sensible approach to an extremely complex matter. It is clearly desirable that any person or couple contemplating adopting a child abroad must be made aware of the possible pitfalls involved in order to ensure that their decision to adopt is a fully-informed decision. An adoption agency which omitted to do this would be failing in their responsibilities towards the proposed adopters.
The detailed information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department in respect of all the health boards. I have made arrangements for the information to be collected from the health boards and I will forward it to the Deputy as soon as possible.
