Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 May 2012
590 Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the steps she is taking to set up an agreement with Kazakhstan in order that persons can adopt children from Kazakhstan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25571/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra591 Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the Adoption Authority of Ireland was invited to a meeting with the Kazak adoption authorities to discuss the Hague Convention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25572/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 590 and 591 together.
With effect from 1 November 2010, inter-country adoptions can be effected with other countries which have ratified the Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Inter-country Adoption (the Hague Adoption Convention) or with countries with which Ireland has a bilateral agreement. Kazakhstan has ratified the Convention.
Over the past 18 months the Adoption Authority of Ireland (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. I understand that an official of the Irish Embassy in Moscow has now presented the copy correspondence to, and raised the issue of inter-country adoption with, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kazakhstan.
I understand the Kazakhstani authorities hosted a meeting on inter-country adoption on the 11th of May. I would like to point out that at no stage were the AAI, the Department of Children and Youth Affairs or the Embassy contacted by the Kazakhstani authorities regarding the meeting. As soon as the issue came to the attention of my Department, official contact was made with the Embassy in Moscow in this regard. The Embassy officials in Moscow are endeavouring to secure feedback from this meeting to assess its relevance for progress towards an administrative agreement on inter-country adoption between Ireland and Kazakhstan.
My officials are actively pursuing the matter in conjunction with the AAI. The Embassy has been asked to request information from the relevant authorities on the position for Irish couples hoping to adopt from Kazakhstan as soon as possible. In the interim the AAI is currently completing a review of Kazakhstan's adoption legislation.
