Vol. 433 No. 5
14 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform if, in view of the enormous cost involved for adoptive parents in seeking to have the consent of the natural mother dispensed with where this is constantly refused, he will make resources available to the Adoptive Parents Association to assist couples in this situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Legal aid is provided under the scheme of civil legal aid and advice in adoption cases where the applicants meet the income and other eligibility criteria provided for in the scheme. I regret to inform the Deputy that there are no funds at my disposal to provide financial assistance to the Adoptive Parents Association.
Would the Minister accept that if an adoptive couple were to meet the means for civil legal aid, which is £6,700 or £6,900 per year, they would never be entitled to adopt a child as no adoption society would allow a couple with such low means to adopt a child? I know the Minister is aware of a case concerning constituents of ours who recently had to go to the High Court in order to dispense with the natural mother's consent. This cost the couple £23,000. They have to remortgage their house in order to pay the costs. Is the Minister aware that there is a possibility that the natural mother will appeal this case to the Supreme Court? In the High Court case the natural mother was funded as she has no means and there is a possibility that she will be funded in order to take the case to the Supreme Court. This has put both financial and emotional strains on the couple who have had the child for four years.
Given that only a small number of families come into this category, would the Minister not agree that it would be both humane and just if he provided some small level of resources to the Adoptive Parent's Society? Alternatively, in cases where the child has been with the adoptive parents for a number of years, the Legal Aid Board might look at these cases in a sympathetic way and adjudicate on entitlement to aid on a different basis. It should be remembered that there are very few adoption orders in any event and an even smaller number are challenged in order to dispense with the natural mother's consent. Would the Minister not agree that it is grossly unfair that adoptive parents, many of whom have waited for years to adopt a child, should have to endure this terrible burden in order to finalise the adoption?
I am aware of the case in our constituency to which the Deputy referred. I sympathise with the adoptive parents who felt they had to go to the High Court to seek an order to dispense with the consent of the natural mother. The bill they received seems inordinately high to me. It has to be remembered that the legal aid scheme has, and always has had, parameters set down for eligibility. It was never intended to provide a free legal aid for people with means or sums available at their disposal which would enable them to meet their own legal costs. There are tremendous demands on the legal aid scheme and approximately £3 million has been allocated to it this year. In the Programme for Government the Government is committed to extending and expanding the legal aid scheme to the maximum possible extent. I am already engaged in consultations on arrangements to try to achieve this and to reduce the unacceptably long waiting list in the critical family law area. Over the years many Deputies, including myself, have pressed for legal aid for tribunals, etc. The demand on the scheme is potentially very large and all I can say at this stage is that the Government will honour its commitment to extend and expand the service to the maximum possible extent year on year and to revise the guidelines in accordance with the moneys which can be made available from time to time.
In recent years Deputies on all sides of the House have received representations from people who wish to adopt children. Will the Minister clarify that no statutory age limit is being imposed at present by the health boards due to the lack of children available for adoption? Would he not agree that there is a very clear need for further information for couples who wish to adopt a child? For example, many couples who travelled to Brazil to adopt a child and stayed there for up to six months eventually found out that they had been ripped off by unscrupulous legal representatives who were in the business of buying children. In view of the fact that approximately 5,000 Irish women have abortions in England every year, would the Minister not agree that there is a need to encourage these women to have their babies and give them up for adoption by couples who are in a position to care for them?
I agree with many of the points made by the Deputy, but I would point out to him that the issue of adoption is a matter for the Minister for Health who makes the regulations. The issue of adoption arose under Deputy Harney's question in so far as funding is available under the legal aid scheme, for which I have responsibility. I do not know off hand whether an upper age limit is applied but I am sure the Adoption Board would have that information for the Deputy.
With regard to a decision by the Legal Aid Board to grant legal aid to an applicant — in this case the natural mother — does the board examine the case before it makes its decision or is aid granted automatically if a person's means are below £6,700 or £6,900? Will a natural mother, with means under the level, automatically be given aid regardless of the case? As the Minister is aware, there was effectively no case in the case to which I referred — this was clear from the judgement of the High Court. Does the Legal Aid Board consider all the circumstances of a case before it makes a decision?
Every case is different. In addition to examining the means of the applicant, the Legal Aid Board is also required under the terms of the scheme to examine the circumstances of the case. However, that specific ruling does not apply in quite the same way where the welfare of a child is at issue. If it appears from the facts submitted to the Legal Aid Board that the welfare of a child or children is at issue then the question of the likelihood or otherwise of success in the proceedings does not arise.
