I am delighted to welcome the Minister of State to the House, particularly in her role as the guardian of children who are at the core of the matter I am about to raise.
I assure the members of the International Adoption Association that I am not opposed to inter-country adoption. It is a splendid idea and I have an adopted godchild who has given me great joy in her 27 years. I know people who have adopted children from other countries and these adoptions have been entirely successful. However, I am at a loss to understand why the heads of a Bill which was considered to be emergency legislation this time last year have not yet been published.
The Law Reform Commission recommended the ratification of the Hague Convention on inter-country adoptions nearly two years ago. This convention regulates adoptions which take place across national borders and is intended to ensure that inter-country adoptions are administered according to high standards and accepted procedures. It aims to provide a mechanism which allows inter-country adoption to take place in circumstances where agreed minimum safeguards have been established and complied with. The convention sets up a system of co-operation between the authorities in the child's country of origin and those in the receiving state. The convention provides for the automatic recognition of all adoptions which have been arranged through the convention process. The Law Reform Commission does not exclude adoptions from countries which are not signatories to the Hague Convention. The recommendations of the Law Reform Commission are based on "the primacy of the rights of the child and the principle that the aim of inter-country adoption is to find the right adoptive parent for the child rather than the right child for the adoptive parents".
This is a most emotive issue. There have been many complaints about delays in assessing couples for adoption. The Eastern Health Board in particular has been singled out for blame and, of course, people who are hoping to adopt a child have the question of their age hanging over them like the sword of Damocles. The question of age can be debated on another occasion. In these emotive circumstances I can understand why people might prefer if I did not bring forward the problem I see arising. This time last year there was a considerable amount of excitement in the press because at least one agency, which was not registered in this country, was advertising meetings in various hotels and there were financial obligations for those who became involved with it. To some people the price asked seemed to be extremely high. The Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, recognised that this was a case which required urgent legislation but nothing has happened in the interim. This must be a cause of great concern for all of us.
The Minister of State's Department published a major study of inter-country adoptions last year. Ms Vivienne Darling, who was a member of the Adoption Board for 15 years until 1998 and a former head of the department of social studies in Trinity College, pointed out the need for this legislation again recently. She gave as an example the fact that a bilateral agreement with Romania which was made in 1994 proved to be meaningless because couples travelled to Romania in search of children and simply brought them home. The Adoption Board is most reluctant to cause further disruption in the lives of these children by removing them from families. A new agreement was put in place in 1998 which solved some of the problems but the question needs to be addressed in its totality.
International adoption agencies operating outside the State are assisting Irish couples to adopt children from abroad and many people have been extremely grateful for their help. The Adoption Board has brought this fact to the attention of the Department of Health and Children and the board was assured that the promised legislation would address the matter. It was necessary for the board to do this because it is not in a position to regulate the agencies. A year later, nothing has happened.
Deputy Fahey suggested that Irish adoption agencies could be given additional finance to help them facilitate inter-country adoptions. This seemed to me to be a very good idea. No one wants to see the exploitation of people who are hopeful adoptive parents or, worse still, the exploitation of children from abroad. One year on we still await legislation, the advertisements are appearing in the newspapers again and figures between $10,000 and $20,000 are being mentioned. These are very large sums of money.
I hope the Minister of State has some news on this matter, at the core of which are children who cannot afford to delay any longer.