THE CHAIRMAN and newly appointed chief executive of the Adoption Authority left Ireland at the weekend for a three-day visit to Vietnam to examine the progress made by that country in improving its standards for intercountry adoptions.

This bodes well for future adoptions between the two countries:

Adoption body to gauge Vietnam's progress

CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor

THE CHAIRMAN and newly appointed chief executive of the Adoption Authority left Ireland at the weekend for a three-day visit to Vietnam to examine the progress made by that country in improving its standards for intercountry adoptions.

Geoffrey Shannon and Elizabeth Canavan will be seeking information on the measures Vietnam intends to take with regard to implementing the Hague Convention on intercountry adoption.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald welcomed the visit, and said: “We hope this visit will provide further clarity on the current situation in Vietnam.”

Adoptions from Vietnam into Ireland were suspended in January last year, following a report from the United Nation’s International Social Services.

Among the issues raised in the report were: the concern that intercountry adoptions from Vietnam were essentially influenced by foreign demand rather than the needs of “abandoned” and orphaned children; the circumstances under which babies become “adoptable” were unclear and disturbing; and an “unhealthy” relationship existed between mediating agencies and specific residential institutions.

Prior to that, there had been a bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam on intercountry adoption, and Ireland had not incorporated the Hague Convention into Irish law.

It has since done so and Vietnam has indicated its intention to do this soon also, which would pave the way for the reopening of adoption from that country.

A number of Irish couples have declarations of eligibility to adopt from Vietnam and have been in a difficult situation since.

The visit of Mr Shannon and Ms Canavan is intended to gather information on the progress made in improving adoption procedures.

They will then report their findings to Ms Fitzgerald, “in due course”.

Mr Shannon also said that any new information on Vietnam would be posted on the Adoption Authority’s website as soon as it was available.

“Ireland has a recent tradition of adoption from Vietnam and has enjoyed good relationships with that country,” he said.

“The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a sovereign state and will make its own decisions on the ratification and implementation of the Hague Convention.”

He said the visit would additionally be an opportunity to seek information on the manner in which Vietnam proposes to implement the convention, including details such as which countries it proposes to work with in the future.

The Adoption Authority was set up last November following the passing of the Adoption Act.

This Act brought the Hague Convention into Irish law and also provided for the setting-up of the new authority.

The Adoption Authority has replaced the Adoption Board.

The new authority will accredit organisations working in the adoption field.

It has announced the appointment of Ms Canavan as its first chief executive, following an open public competition conducted by the Public Appointments Service.

“Ms Canavan has a strong reputation in the adoption field with the former Adoption Board, the department and a wide range of stakeholders both here and abroad,” Mr Shannon said.

He said that, to date, the authority had accredited six agencies to work in the adoption field.

One of these agencies was for the purpose of providing information, advice and counselling to prospective adoptive parents, one for providing mediation services, one for assessing prospective adopters, two for information and tracing of adopted children and their natural parents and one for the placement of children and for information and tracing.

A number of other applications for accreditation are in process, Mr Shannon said.

He also said that the authority had travelled to a number of other jurisdictions to make contact with their central authorities for intercountry adoption.

The Adoption Authority had advised them of Irish processes and procedures, and sought to glean as much information as possible for prospective adoptive parents.

“Building strong relationships with other central authorities will be the key to ensuring the achievement of standards relating to the adoption process,” he said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0509/1224296491940.html