Seán Power
Ceist:113 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Health if she will outline the recommendations, if any, that have been implemented from the 1984 review body on adoption services; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Adoption Services.
The provisions of the Adoption Acts of 1988 and 1991 are broadly based on recommendations made by the review committee on adoption services which reported to the then Minister for Health in 1984.
The 1988 Act permits the adoption of any child, including a child born within marriage, whose parents are deemed by the courts to have failed in their constitutional duty to care for the child. This gave effect to a central recommendation of the review committee that the law should be changed to allow for the adoption of children born within marriage.
The 1988 Act also relieved the Adoption Board of the obligation to publish in Irish Oifigiúil a notice of every adoption order made by them. This change was also recommended by the review committee.
The Adoption Act, 1991, sets out a statutory framework for the recognition in the State of foreign adoptions and regulates the adoption of foreign children by Irish residents. That Act also extended the categories of persons eligible to be granted an Irish adoption order and reduced the statutory minimum ages for adopting parents. All of these measures are in line with recommendations made by the review committee.
Apart from these statutes, the Status of Children Act, 1987, and the Child Care Act, 1991, have given effect to certain other recommendations made by the review committee.
The Status of Children Act contains important provisions relating to the paternity of children, the rights of natural fathers of children born outside marriage and the property rights of adopted children, all of which address issues raised by the review committee.
The Child Care Act, 1991, contains a specific provision requiring the health boards to provide or ensure the provision of an adoption service in their areas. This was also recommended by the review committee.
On an administrative basis, in accordance with recommendations made by the review committee, the Adoption Board have produced an information booklet for prospective adopters and the Central Council of Catholic Adoption Societies have recently produced a booklet outlining the various services provided by the adoption agencies.