Vol. 514 No. 3
209 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the waiting time and the procedures for parents seeking foreign adoptions in the Eastern Health Board area; if he will compare these to the procedures and waiting times in other health boards; and if he will introduce an initiative to ensure that there is a standard level of practice and waiting time. [4053/00]
Unfortunately, due to the manner in which statistics are currently maintained, the information the Deputy is seeking is not readily available. The absence of comparable statistics across health boards in relation to inter-country assessment waiting times and procedures is one of the issues identified in the recent review of inter-country adoption assessments. The review entitled "Towards a Standardised Framework for Inter-Country Adoption Assessment Procedures" provides a comprehensive overview of the existing inter-country adoption services and assessment procedures in all health board areas. It also provides an analysis of best practice in the area of assessment and a clear agenda for moving forward.
The Deputy will be pleased to note a number of developments over the past number of months which will help develop and promote an efficient and effective inter-country adoption process across all health boards. A working group has been established to prioritise and plan implementation of the report's recommendations. This includes recommendations in relation to information technology standards, which will ensure timely and accurate national statistics on waiting times and other important management information statistics in the future.
An additional £500,000 was allocated to health boards in 1999, of which £213,000 was allocated to the Eastern Health Board. A further £500,000 is being made available to health boards in 2000, of which £236,000 of the total has been allocated to the Eastern Health Board. This represents almost a doubling of resources in the area of inter-country adoption services.
A training seminar on the standardised framework for inter-country adoption assessment was held in November 1999, which was attended by all social work practitioners and many managers in inter-country adoption services.
