Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 July 2012
30 Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of countries with which Ireland has signed an administrative agreement for the purposes of facilitating inter-country adoptions; the number of children adopted using administrative arrangements since the establishment of the Adoption Authority of Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33376/12]
View answerThe Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption entered into force in Ireland on 1 November 2010 with the enactment of the Adoption Act 2010 and the establishment of the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI). Therefore, since then, adoptions have been ongoing from Hague contracted countries and 35 such adoptions have taken place in the period 1 January 2011 to end June 2012.
Under section 72 of the Adoption Act 2010, the Adoption Authority may enter into administrative arrangements with another contracting State. An administrative arrangement is not mandatory for inter-country adoption between countries that are both signatories to Hague. However some contracting states, including Ireland, may determine that in some instances co-operation in the field of inter-country adoption between particular countries is best served by the development of an administrative agreement under Section 72 of the Act.
The Adoption Authority is working to establish administrative arrangements with a number of Hague countries in relation to inter-country adoptions, as provided for under section 72 of the Adoption Act 2010. The Authority has travelled to a number of jurisdictions in order to make contact with the Central Authorities, advise of our processes and procedures, assess the need for additional administrative arrangements or agreements; and to glean as much information as possible of relevance to prospective adopters from those countries. The visits also provide opportunities to streamline processes on both sides and obtain up-to-date information for prospective adopters on developments in these countries. The most recent engagements by the AAI with its counterpart Central Authorities include:
positive discussions in that regard which recently took place between the Adoption Authority of Ireland and a visiting delegation of senior officials from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, which is a Hague signatory. The discussions lead to finalisation on the contents of administrative arrangements for the resumption of adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam. I have invited the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, to visit Ireland in September at which point I expect that the agreement setting out the administrative arrangements will be signed by the two Central Authorities.
A delegation from the Adoption Authority travelled to New Delhi, India, on 18th June 2012 to discuss adoption arrangements between the Adoption Authority and CARA, the Indian Central Authority. I understand the Authority is considering the report from this visit.
With the help of the Irish Embassy in Moscow, the AAI has had a response to its earlier communications from the adoption authorities in Kazakhstan on the issue of inter-country adoptions and is proposing to meet the authorities in Kazakhstan.
31 Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the progress made on finalising an administrative or working agreement with Kazakhstan for the adoption of children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33381/12]
View answerThe Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) seeks to proactively engage with its counterparts in countries identified for inter-country adoption purposes, including Kazakhstan. While direct contact and diplomatic channels are used to promote such contact, the success of these efforts is obviously contingent upon the preferences of such other countries regarding inter-country adoption relationships.
Over the past 18 months AAI has written to its counterpart Central Authority in Kazakhstan on three separate occasions to begin the process of developing an administrative agreement for inter-country adoption. To date there has been no reply from the Kazakhstani authorities to any of the contacts made by the AAI. The Authority has continued to indicate that it is open to discussing the issue of inter-country adoptions with its Kazakhstani counterparts at any time, and the most recent correspondence from the AAI was in March of this year.
An official of the Irish Embassy in Moscow presented the copy correspondence to, and raised the issue of inter-country adoption with, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan on Friday 11 May 2012. The Embassy officials in Moscow have also been asked to secure feedback from the meeting held in Kazakhstan on 11 May to assess its relevance for progress towards an administrative agreement on inter-country adoption between Ireland and Kazakhstan. AAI is doing a review of adoption laws in Kazakhstan.
An official at the Irish Embassy in Moscow confirmed to the AAI on 4 July 2012 that the National Central Authority had received the Adoption Authority of Ireland correspondence and a reply was in the course of preparation. They were not in a position to state the nature of the reply. This matter was also followed up on 3rd July directly with the Embassy by officials of the DCYA. A response is awaited.
