Dan Boyle
Ceist:342 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Health and Children the plans which exist for completing a bilateral agreement on adoption procedures with the Government of Vietnam. [21661/02]
Written Answers. - Inter-Country Adoptions.
I have been advised by the Adoption Board that it wrote to the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, who has responsibility for adoption matters, in November 2001, January 2002 and again in September 2002 inquiring if it would be possible to enter into a working arrangement on adoption with Ireland and asking for confirmation on whether adoptions from Vietnam to Ireland will be suspended. The board has not received a response to date. The board has also written to the Department of Foreign Affairs asking for the Irish Ambassador to make representations with the Vietnamese authorities on behalf of the board concerning these issues. The board has confirmed that it will continue to pursue this matter.
In considering working arrangements with other countries it is essential that we are satisfied that these arrangements uphold the spirit of the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption and that all adoptions take place in the best interests of the children concerned.