Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 17 Apr 2002

Vol. 552 No. 1

Written Answers. - Inter-Country Adoptions.

Joe Higgins

Ceist:

269 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to take steps to reduce waiting times for assessments for foreign adoptions in the Eastern Regional Health authority, which in some cases have resulted in couples waiting over four years for an assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11022/02]

Joe Higgins

Ceist:

270 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to take measures to increase the number of social workers allocated to work on foreign adoption assessments in the Eastern Regional Health Authority. [11023/02]

Charles Flanagan

Ceist:

311 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Health and Children if, in relation to a proposal to speed up the assessment procedure in relation to inter-country adoptions, he will outline the number of persons awaiting assessment in each health board area; the current average waiting time; and the proposals to have matters dealt with more quickly. [11296/02]

Conor Lenihan

Ceist:

315 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children the reasons for the delays in the Eastern Regional Health Authority Area for those awaiting assessment for an inter-country adoption (details supplied). [11300/02]

Brian Hayes

Ceist:

351 Mr. B. Hayes asked the Minister for Health and Children the action being taken in relation to the considerable waiting time for inter-country adoptions as administered by various health boards; if his attention has been drawn to the lengthy waiting time for applications to the Eastern Regional Health Authority; the discussions he has had with this health authority in respect of expediting the applications for inter-country adoptions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11551/02]

Conor Lenihan

Ceist:

358 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to expedite the planned improvements to the Eastern Regional Health Authority's service for couples seeking to effect an inter-country adoption as there appears to be no positive change in arrangements since the announcement in September 2001; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11597/02]

Conor Lenihan

Ceist:

359 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to clear the backlog of applications to the Eastern Regional Health Authority's service for couples seeking to effect an inter-country adoption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11598/02]

Conor Lenihan

Ceist:

360 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to reduce the times on current throughput rates of applications to the Eastern Regional Health Authority's service for couples seeking to effect an inter-country adoption; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11599/02]

Conor Lenihan

Ceist:

361 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for Health and Children his plans to reduce the times on current throughput rates of applications to the Eastern Regional Health Authority's service for couples seeking to effect an inter-country adoption as couples in their mid-30s are in danger of being rejected on age grounds due to the excessive delays in processing applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11600/02]

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 269, 270, 311, 315, 351 and 358 to 361, inclusive, together.

I am concerned about the delays being experienced by applicants for inter-country adoption assessment in the Eastern Regional Health Authority as evident in the latest statistics which I have received from the ERHA. For the past two years I have worked closely with various groups involved in this area in an effort to provide a better service. I accept that the shortage in social workers is leading to intolerable delays for couples who have already experienced a lot of personal trauma.

Delays have arisen over the last few years because of an increased interest in inter-country adoption, and difficulties being experienced in the ERHA region in recruiting social workers. Funding has been provided in the ERHA area for more than 20 social workers to carry out assessments but only 10.5 social workers are actually in place due to recruitment problems.

Extra administrative personnel and office facilities have also been provided to free up social workers to concentrate on assessments and to reduce travelling time. Efforts are being made to deal with the current shortage of social workers by recruiting internationally and by increasing the number of training places nationally. Approximately 30 additional social work training places have been created since October 2001 and it is planned to increase the number of places by in excess of 85 to be phased in from 2002.

In the past four years a number of improvements have been put in place to facilitate couples who wish to adopt children from abroad. A standardised framework for inter-country adoption assessment was introduced to streamline assessments and to provide a transparent system centred on the child's best interests and respectful to all the parties involved. This includes a guide for practitioners on the assessment process which was prepared by British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering, international leaders in the field. The framework has been welcomed by both health boards and couples.

A sum of €2.101 million or £1.655 million in additional funding has been provided nationally to reduce the time spent by couples on the waiting lists, mainly through the recruitment of additional social worker and administrative staff. Almost €830,000 or £653,000 of this additional funding has been provided to the ERHA.

Working agreements have been made with China, Thailand, Belarus and the Philippines, legislation is being prepared to ratify the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, 1993, and the recommendations of the organisation and management review of the Adoption Board are being implemented.

I have previously written to all other health boards asking them to assist the ERHA in reducing their waiting lists and I again asked them for their help at the conference on inter-country adoption, Sharing Best Practice, which I attended last week. Some boards have said they were in a position to help with preparation courses and this offer is being acted upon.

I have also put the ERHA in touch with the British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering with a view to seeing if it is in a position to assist the ERHA in carrying out inter-country adoption assessments. The ERHA is establishing two new assessment units in the East Coast and Northern Area Health Boards to supplement the service for the region being provided by the South-Western Area Health Board. I understand that four new social workers are likely to be in place by June 2002. The restructuring of the service will take place on a phased basis when the additional staff have come on board. A customer services officer to provide accurate information is also being appointed.

My Department collects statistics from each of the health boards in respect of inter-country adoption at the end of every quarter. The latest quarter for which information is available is the end of December 2001. Table 1 below outlines the number of assessments completed in the Eastern Regional Health Authority area for the past four years. While the number of cases finalised decreased in 2000, it increased significantly in 2001. The ERHA has informed me that the duration of assessment in the region is nine to ten months.

Table 1

	1998	1999	2000	2001
Total Number of assessments	69	112	85	137

There is no specific age limit which would exclude a couple from being assessed, although age is a significant factor which would be taken into account, along with health and family circumstances in assessing capacity to adopt. In regard to concerns about couples in their mid-30s being rejected by sending countries on age grounds as a result of excessive delays, I should clarify that some countries impose their own age limits. This is outside the control of the Irish authorities.

Table 2 outlines the number of applications awaiting assessment for inter-country adoption, including deferrals which have yet to begin the preparation stage at 31 December 2001.

Table 2

	ERHA/SWAHB	MHB	MWHB	NEHB	NWHB	SEHB	SHB	WHB	PACT
1st assessment
1998	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
1999	0	1	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
2000	186	2	22	0	11	10	12	0	10
2001	291	25	49	35	23	93	86	34	31
Total	477	28	78	35	34	103	99	34	41
2nd assessment
1998	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1999	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2000	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2001	37	1	5	15	4	0	21	3	2
Total	61	1	5	15	4	0	21	3	2

Table 3 outlines the projected waiting time for assessment, that is, the time from receipt of completed application to the expected beginning of preparation stage for applicants who applied at 31 December 2001.

Table 3

Health Board	1st assessment	2nd assessment
ERHA/SWAHB*	Not available	Not available
MHB	18mths Laois/Offaly	2 mths Laois/Offaly
	4 mths Longford/Westmeath	Immediate Longford/Westmeath
MWHB	7 mths Clare	6 mths Clare
	12 – 15 mths Limerick	3 – 4 mths Limerick
NEHB	9 – 12 mths	9 – 12 mths
NWHB	6 – 9 mths	2 – 3 mths
SEHB	18 mths	immediate
SHB	9 mths	4 mths
WHB	4 – 7 mths Galway	3 – 6 mths
	1 – 6 mths Mayo/ Roscommon
PACT	7 weeks	7 weeks

*The projected waiting time is not available pending the establishment by the ERHA of the two new assessment centres in the Northern and East Coast Area Health Boards to supplement the service in the South West Area Health Board.

It would be inappropriate for me to comment on individual cases. I can assure the Deputies of my personal commitment to this issue and my desire that the resources allocated to the ERHA and other boards should be used to facilitate couples who wish to undergo assessment.