Ireland - adoption agency which engages in illegal practices should be de-registered

Adoption agencies to be struck off for ‘wrongdoing’

By Conall O Fátharta

Friday, May 21, 2010

ANY adoption agency which engages in illegal practices should be de-registered and if necessary the case referred to An Garda Síochána, the chairman of the Adoption Board has said.

The issue of illegal adoptions was raised with Geoffrey Shannon following the Irish Examiner’s investigation into the case of Tressa Reeves, whose son was illegally adopted and falsely registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents. This was facilitated by St Patrick’s Guild adoption agency, which remains fully accredited by the Adoption Board, despite the board being aware of the case since 2001.

Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time, chairman of the Adoption Board Geoffrey Shannon gave a personal guarantee that any such cases would be investigated and if necessary referred to the relevant authorities.

"I don’t want to become involved in discussing individual cases, but what I am saying is, if anybody has concerns in relation to their individual case, that I am giving a guarantee that their case or cases will be immediately drawn to the attention of the Adoption Board and if there are any concerns emerging from an examination of that case that warrants referral to the gardaí, to the General Register Office or any other statutory body that will happen as a matter of priority," he said.

Mr Shannon said he would recommend to the Adoption Board to de-register agencies engaged in wrongdoing.

"We will do what we can do within the powers laid down in the Adoption Acts. We will have much greater enhanced powers under the forthcoming adoption legislation and hopefully we will be in a better position to provide answers.

"The board has at its disposal the power to de-register an adoption society... it would be my recommendation to the board where wrongdoing has been found on the part of an adoption society, that the board... de-register the adoption society," he said.

This story appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Friday, May 21, 2010

Read more: http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/adoption-agencies-to-be-struck-off-for-wrongdoing-120375.html#ixzz0orEyK23X

Group tries to aid Vietnam adoptions

A high-level delegation from the Adoption Board is in Vietnam to try and expedite 20 adoptions from the country.

The 20 couples involved in the adoptions received letters informing them of the trip. They were told the delegation would be headed by Adoption Board chairman Geoffrey Shannon and include the board’s chief executive, registrar and principal social worker.

‘‘In the situation where these adoptions proceed, it will be the function of the Adoption Board to determine in each case, on the basis of the facts presented, whether to grant that adoption an entry in the register of foreign adoptions," the letter stated.

Ireland’s bilateral adoption agreement with Vietnam lapsed on May 1 after five years in existence. The failure to establish a new agreement has left hundreds of people in an uncertain position. The 20 applications that are the subject of this visit were received in Vietnam before the agreement lapsed.

In total, almost 300 people have been approved to adopt from Vietnam by the Adoption Board, after going through a lengthy approval assessment process.

Minister for Children Barry Andrews has said that Ireland did not renew the adoption agreement with Vietnam because of concerns about adoption procedures there.

While adoption groups and opposition politicians accused Andrews of leaving it too late to reach a new agreement, two UN reports have since raised concerns about the adoption process in Vietnam.

If the government decides against pursuing a new agreement with Vietnam, adoptions will not restart until the Hague Convention on intercountry adoptions is ratified by the Vietnamese government.

It is unlikely to be ratified before 2011,which would leave many Irish couples in limbo. The government said it would consider the reports before making a decision about an agreement with Vietnam.

Children's Right Alliance seeks urgent ratification

Children's Righs Alliance seeks urgent ratification of the Hague Adoption Treaty

CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor - 28.09.2009

THE CHILDREN’S Rights Alliance has called for the urgent ratification by Ireland of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions in the light of the lapsing of a bilateral adoption agreement between Ireland and Vietnam.

It said a recent Vietnamese government’s report on adoption “makes for worrying reading” and expressed concern that the adoption system can fall foul to criminal activity. The alliance is a coalition of over 90 non-governmental organisations campaigning on children’s rights in Ireland.

“The Children’s Rights Alliance acknowledges the personal stress and upset that any change in inter-country adoption procedures has on prospective adoptive parents,” its chief executive Jillian van Turnhout said in a statement.

“Adoption is a pathway to realising a child’s right to grow up in a family. When discussing adoption, we rightly focus on the story of prospective adoptive parents, but often we lose sight of the fact that adoption is about children, their rights and needs,” she said.

“Unfortunately, the adoption system can fall foul to criminal activity, including corruption and the sale or trafficking of children. It is thus critical that a rigorous verification process be put in place for all adoptions. At present, the Irish adoption system has different levels of safeguards for national and international adoptions. > read more <

Adoption body chief offers to help process Vietnamese cases

CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor

THE CHAIRMAN of the Adoption Board, Geoffrey Shannon, has told the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews, that he is available to travel immediately to Vietnam to assist the Irish embassy there in processing 20 adoptions agreed between the Irish and Vietnamese authorities last summer.

These applications had been received in Vietnam before the expiry last May of the bilateral agreement between the two countries on adoption.

Progress on an interim agreement is awaiting consideration by the Minister of two reports on child protection and adoption in Vietnam. In the meantime adoptions from Vietnam will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Adoption Board.

Mr Shannon also said in a statement yesterday that inter-country adoption “carries inherent risks wherever it is carried out” and that the Hague Convention on inter-country adoptions provides the best available framework for managing those risks. It will be ratified when the Adoption Bill goes through the Oireachtas.

Pending the resolution of issues contained in the two reports, which he said highlighted the need to ensure appropriate arrangements to safeguard any adoptions, the board had advised the Minister it was seeking the assistance of the Department of Foreign Affairs in processing these 20 applications...> read whole article <