Vol. 492 No. 5
99 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will give details of the investigation into an organisation (details supplied) and other similar organisations, in particular; the terms of reference of the investigation; the composition of the investigation team; and when he expects to receive the first report from the team. [14561/98]
I am concerned about the highly public campaign which was recently concluded by the organisation in question. However, I am prohibited from investigating the matter any further as Irish adoption legislation does not cover foreign adoption agencies operating in Ireland. This situation underlines the importance of moving to ratify the Hague Convention to give the Adoption Board regulatory powers in this area. Following on from the very recent assignment of additional staff to the child care area of my Department the necessary work involved in ratifying the Hague Convention will commence in the near future.
