Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 303: To ask the Minister for Health and Children, further to Parliamentary Question No. 320 of the 23 June 2009, if she will report on the status of agreeing a bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam. [30469/09]

Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
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Question 304: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding Irish families who want to adopt children from Vietnam. [30650/09]

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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Question 308: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the status of discussions with the government of Vietnam on the renewal of the bilateral adoption agreement; when she expects the agreement to be concluded; when she expects the resumption of adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31242/09]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 311: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31830/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 312: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position in relation to the bilateral agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; the progress on same in the past three months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31988/09]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 347: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the current situation in respect of Vietnamese adoptions; the likelihood of an imminent bilateral agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30341/09]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 348: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if a date has been set for the meeting here with officials from Vietnam in regard to the resumption of an adoption agreement between the two states; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30348/09]

Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 378: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if she will support a matter (details supplied). [30483/09]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Question 398: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding adoption between Ireland and Vietnam; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30555/09]

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 405: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam; when a new agreement will be reached and implemented in order to enable adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam to proceed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30691/09]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 412: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the arrangement of a new bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam; the further steps being taken to progress matters. [30751/09]

Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 424: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the Ireland-Vietnam bilateral adoption agreement; when families here can expect that adoptions will recommence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30818/09]

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 439: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she expects progress to be made in relation to the arrangements for adoption, between Ireland and Vietnam; the reason the bilateral arrangements have been allowed to falter; if her attention has been drawn to the impact the protracted delay and shut-down of adoptions from Vietnam is having on couples here who had expected the process to proceed and roll-over after the five year arrangement had lapsed; the action she will take to reactivate the process and ensure that those prospective adoptive parents can be assisted in moving on the process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30986/09]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 447: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position in relation to the renewal of the bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; if arrangements are in place to resolve this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31062/09]

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 449: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when further face-to-face discussions will take place with Vietnamese officials to finalise a new bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam; and the timeframe for the resolution of all outstanding issues. [31064/09]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 461: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if a draft agreement with Vietnam has been submitted to the Vietnamese authorities to allow adoptions to recommence with Vietnam. [31255/09]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 462: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding both the interim agreement with Vietnam and the draft new agreement with Vietnam to allow adoptions to resume with that country; the number of families awaiting adoptions that have been delayed due to the issues with these agreements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31256/09]

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 463: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the outcome of the Minister of State's trip to Vietnam to resolve issues arising from the adoption process between both countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31257/09]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 303, 304, 308, 311, 312, 347, 348, 378, 398, 405, 412, 424, 439, 447, 449, 461, 462, 463 and 465 together.

The issue of intercountry adoption and, in particular, the negotiation of a new bilateral agreement with Vietnam has been given considerable priority by my officials over the last year. I have advised the House and parent/prospective adoptive parent representative groups on many occasions regarding the developments in relation to those discussions. I must emphasise, yet again, that the Government's objective is to provide a regime in which the child is at the centre of the adoption process, whether it is an intercountry or domestic adoption, and that adoptions are effected in a manner which is safe and secure.

The most important development in achieving that objective is the development of an appropriate legislative regime which recognises the changed and changing global situation regarding adoption over the last 20 years. The Adoption Bill, which includes the regime of the Hague Convention, provides an assurance for individual children, their families, and the State, that appropriate procedures have been followed and that the adoption was affected in the best interests of the child. A core principle of the Adoption Bill and the Hague Convention is that the child's interests must be paramount. The Hague Convention, which is given the force of law in this Bill, effectively puts in place an agreement between states to regulate the standards that will apply in each jurisdiction. It is to safeguard that acceptable standards are being applied in other countries, over which we have no jurisdiction.

Over the last month two significant Reports have been undertaken regarding child welfare, protection and adoption in Vietnam. Firstly, in August 2009 Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs with technical assistance UNICEF in Vietnam published a report entitled "Creating a protective environment for children in Viet Nam : An assessment of child protection laws and policies, especially children in special circumstances in Viet Nam" . Some of the issues raised in this Report had already been under consideration in the context of ongoing deliberations of the drafting of a new bilateral agreement with the Vietnamese. However, this Report has highlighted significant policy and legal implications and warrants further deliberation.

Furthermore, I have received in draft form a report of an examination of intercountry adoption in Vietnam carried out by the International Social Services (ISS). The Report was commissioned by UNICEF in coordination with the Ministry of Justice of Vietnam. It aims, inter alia, to "identify and address problems in both domestic and Intercountry Adoption processes with a view to assisting Vietnam in its preparations to ratify the Hague Convention. This report is likely to give rise to further issues that will need to be considered.

I must stress that these two reports, both prepared in co-operation with the Vietnamese Government, and UNICEF, go to the heart of the matter in relation to concerns in relation to intercountry adoption in Vietnam. I would be failing in my duty to protect children if I did not acknowledge and consider the content of these reports extremely carefully before deciding on next steps. In saying that, these Reports also serve to highlight the commitment of the Vietnamese Government to ensuring that the adoption process in Vietnam is in line with the best international standards and their willingness to address issues at the core of that commitment. I am currently awaiting finalisation of the ISS Report. While work is continuing on the draft of the Agreement under discussion, I am of the view that the next round of talks at official level in Ireland should await the outcome of our consideration of these two reports.

This is an extremely sensitive matter and I am aware of the likely concerns of the many Irish families that have already adopted children from Vietnam. I have consulted with the Adoption Board and they have advised that all adoptions from Vietnam, which have been registered on the Register of Foreign Adoptions, are safe and secure. I am also acutely conscious of the concerns of prospective adoptive parents. Over the past number of months I have met regularly with both individual prospective adoptive parents and representative groups. I am deeply aware of the angst, frustration and emotion that prospective adoptive parents continue to experience at this time. I have communicated at every opportunity updates on these matters and I have committed to continuing with this process. I can only reiterate that my personal commitment and the Government's commitment is to seeking the necessary assurances to allow us to proceed to conclude an intercountry adoption agreement with Vietnam.