Agreement on Romanian adoptions

The Minister of State for Health and Children, Mr Frank Fahey, will today meet members of the Parents of Adopted Romanian Children (PARC) group. He will brief them on a new agreement between the Government and the Romanian authorities covering adoptions. The agreement will be signed by Mr Fahey in Bucharest on February 18th.

Ms Marian Connolly, secretary of PARC, said last night that some 600 Romanian babies were adopted in Ireland since 1990. However, such adoptions were suspended last summer by the Romanian authorities to allow for the reorganisation of its childcare.

The suspension is expected to be lifted following Mr Fahey's visit to Romania later this month.

Yesterday, Mr Fahey got Dail approval for a new agreement between the Minister for Health and the Romanian Committee for Adoptions, which will facilitate the adoption of Romanian children by Irish couples.

Mr Fahey stressed the importance of the agreement, particularly in view of the "considerable number of applicants who are eagerly awaiting the conclusion of this agreement to facilitate them in adopting a child or children from Romania".

He mentioned specifically those couples who were in the process of adopting Romanian children last year when Romania set about reorganising structures there. He said these people were "particularly anxious for this agreement to be signed".

He said he had received an invitation from the Romanian state secretary and president of the Romanian Committee for Adoption, Mr Cristian Tabacaru, to travel to Bucharest to sign this new agreement. Before going it was his intention to consult with all relevant Irish organisations.