Frances Fitzgerald
Question:49 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Health what steps, if any, he intends to take to introduce new adoption legislation. [5941/96]
Written Answers. - New Adoption Legislation.
I will shortly be seeking the authority of the Government to the drafting of a new Adoption Bill to address the issues raised in the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Keegan - v- Ireland. This will involve giving fathers of non-marital children a greater say in the adoption process. The proposed Bill will also provide for certain amendments of the Adoption Act, 1991, which contains the current statutory framework for the recognition of foreign adoptions.
I also intend, as a separate exercise, to prepare legislative proposals for the establishment of an adoption contact register to facilitate adopted persons and birth parents who wish to re-establish contact with one another. The question of an adopted person's right of access to his or her original birth records will also be considered in that context as the two matters are interrelated.
It is also my intention, in due course, to bring forward new legislation to provide for the ratification of the Hague Convention of 29 May 1993 on Protection of Children and International Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption.