IRELAND DID not renew a bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam because of concerns about adoption procedures there, The Irish Timeshas learned.
This follows the publication last year of a negative report from the US authorities on inter-country adoptions in Vietnam, leading to the US ending adoptions from there.
Ireland’s bilateral agreement lapsed on May 1st last after five years, giving rise to dismay among prospective adoptive parents caught up in the process. They have been lobbying their public representatives, who in turn have been putting pressure on Minister for Children Barry Andrews to resolve the matter urgently.
Mr Andrews told The Irish Times that the issue was a priority within his department, and he was actively pursuing it. Negotiations were ongoing with the Vietnamese authorities to resolve the issues, he said, but he could not give a time-scale for their resolution.
“It is likely I will go out to Vietnam in the next short while to further the negotiations. I think we’re being properly cautious.
“No-one is going to thank us if we sign without exercising due caution. We have to absolutely satisfy ourselves that the best standards apply.
“In 15 or 16 years these children will see the American report and ask what we did to ensure their interests were protected.”
In its report published last April the US State Department identified a number of problems with foreign adoptions from Vietnam. The issues centre on whether the children are genuinely available for adoption, and whether and how much money changes hands in the adoption process.
While the Vietnamese government outlaws payments to birth parents, in practice the matching of children and adoptive parents is done at local level, with little supervision from the national government, the report points out.
Mr Andrews said he could not discuss the details of the negotiations with the Vietnamese government, but confirmed that national oversight of the process was one of the issues under discussion.
He said another was clarity in the level of fees paid by parents, and where those fees went. The Government would insist there were no cash payments and that money was lodged to identifiable bank accounts.
He said two delegations from the Department of Health had visited Vietnam last year and had prepared a comprehensive report detailing their concerns, which provided the basis for the current negotiations.
“The issues are not insurmountable, but they have to be resolved,” he said. “I do believe the Vietnamese want to improve standards. They want to sign Hague . They have set a target of January 2011. They are not going to sign up to something they cannot enforce. It is a challenge for them to put in place the administrative structures. There is a lot of provincial autonomy. We are looking for a central authority to have control over the referral process, which is in Hague as well.”
Irish adoptions in Vietnam are arranged by the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency, based in Cork and with an office in Hanoi, which is recognised by the Adoption Board. It has also been licensed by the Vietnamese authorities, as required under Vietnamese law, which also requires adoption agencies to enter into donation agreements.
Mr Andrews considers this aspect of the process also requires closer monitoring. The Adoption Bill at present before the Oireachtas, as well as ratifying Hague, provides for other improvements, including in the regulation of agencies. “One of the things that has emerged from this process is that we want a much closer relationship with Helping Hands. We are part-funding them at the moment, and that gives us an opportunity to ensure best practice.”