Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 13 May 1998

Vol. 491 No. 1

Written Answers. - Foreign Adoptions.

John Browne

Question:

85 Mr. Browne (Carlow-Kilkenny) asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans, if any, he has to appoint extra staff to help with adoption applications in health boards in view of the fact that three extra staff have already been appointed to assist in the Eastern Health Board. [11474/98]

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Mr. Fahey)

The Adoption Act, 1991, imposed a statutory duty on health boards to carry out, as soon as practicable, assessments for foreign adoptions. In carrying out this function, the boards must have regard to the competing demands in other areas of the child care services, particularly in relation to the protection of children from abuse and neglect, which takes priority over all other work.

I am aware there are different timescales for the completion of the assessment process in the different health boards. This difference arises principally from the greater volume of applications in some areas. Assigning of staff to specific duties so that health boards can fulfil their legislative responsibilities is a matter for the chief executive officer of each health board. The situation in the Eastern Health Board is that arising from the additional funding approved to the board for child care services in 1998 the board has proposed, in its 1998 service plan, the appointment of three new social workers to its adoption service. I understand that one additional social worker has so far been appointed by the board to the task of assessing applicants for foreign adoptions.

I recently travelled to Romania and China to put in place arrangements to facilitate prospective Irish adopters who wish to adopt children from these countries. Ireland signed the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption in 1996. Major amendment of our foreign adoption legislation will be required prior to ratification of the convention. Implementation of the convention will mean bilateral state to state processing of adoption applications from prospective Irish adopters to other countries which have ratified the convention. Arising from these developments and other trends in Irish society such as increasing prosperity and multiculturalism, I expect the number of applications for adoption assessments to increase further.

I am not convinced that simply assigning more social workers to deal with an ever expanding case load is the most efficient way of dealing with this situation, particularly when one considers the other areas of pressing need in our child care services. It is also necessary to consider how health boards can best utilise existing resources to manage cases and whether or not legislative change is required to assist them in this regard. I have had discussions on the issue of foreign adoption assessments with the Eastern Health Board, with the Health Board Programme Managers Group, the Irish Foreign Adoption Group and the Council of Irish Adoption Agencies and I will be having further discussions on the issue. If as a result of these discussions, it becomes obvious to me that legislative change is required, then I would consider that the most appropriate forum to implement such change is the Bill to ratify the Hague Convention.