Vol. 473 No. 4
166 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health the approximate waiting time and the steps, if any, which must be taken by persons (details supplied) in Dublin 16 who applied some time ago for inter country adoption and who reside in the Eastern Health Board area. [1279/97]
The Adoption Act, 1991 imposed a statutory duty on health boards to carry out, as soon as practicable, assessments for foreign adoptions. In carrying out this function, the boards must have regard to the competing demands in other areas of the child care services, particularly in relation to the protection of children from abuse and neglect, which takes priority over all other work. I understand that the procedure from first application to ultimate approval for a foreign adoption in the Eastern Health Board takes at least two years. The assessment process itself takes about nine months. However, due to the volume of applications received, the board is no longer able to estimate the waiting period before a social worker is allocated to a particular case. The board deals with applications in strict numerical order and it is open to applicants to ring the board at any time to inquire as to progress concerning the processing of cases.
