Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 May 2016
59. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs to support a matter regarding post-adoptive services, particularly for children adopted outside Ireland (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9318/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy may be aware, Barnardos provides professional supports to children adopted from abroad and their families who are living in the Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow area on a range of post adoption issues. In other areas, Tusla Adoption services provide information on the availability of local services, access to the social work duty system and facilitate peer support groups for parents of adopted children.
However it should be noted that under the Adoption Act 2010, when a child is the subject of a domestic or intercountry adoption, that child is considered the child of the adopter/s. The Adoption Act 2010 also provides that children adopted from abroad should be registered with the Health Service Executive. Accordingly, it is open to any adopted child to access the full range of services which are currently available to all Irish children. These include specialist psychiatric and psychological services, health services and speech and language services.
While I appreciate that some children adopted from abroad may require specialised services for complex needs, such need would be consistent for all children with complex needs, not just those adopted.
