THE Government rejected the Fianna Fail private member's Bill on adoption.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Austin Currie, said that, if implemented, it would introduce inequities into the system. He added that the Government would bring forward proposals to address the difficulties that had emerged in the operation of the 1991 Adoption Act.
The Adoption Bill was moved by the Fianna Fail spokesman on equality and law reform, Dr Michael Woods, who said it would provide for the registration in Ireland of adoptions made in China and ensure that they were valid under Irish law.
At present, the law on foreign adoptions, as contained in the 1991 Act, would not permit adoptions effected in China to come under the definition of "foreign adoptions". Because Chinese adoptions were not recognised in Ireland, the Chinese authorities would not allow Irish couples to adopt there.
His Bill would also enable the Minister for Health, by regulations, to designate other countries from which adoptions would be regarded as valid under Irish lawn and have them entered in a register. It also provided for a contact - register to enable a birth mother and an adopted child to contact each other if they both wished.
Mr Currie said that while the Government understood and appreciated what Dr Woods was trying to achieve, and commended him on his initiative, the Bill was fundamentally defective. The proposal relating to Chinese adoptions completely disregarded the fact that the adoption laws of other countries contained similar provisions relating to the termination of adoptions.
The Government accepted the desirability of modifying the current definition of a foreign adoption in order to secure the recognition of adopt ions effected under such laws.
However, it considered that such a modification must, in the interests of equity, apply to adoptions effected in all relevant countries rather than be confined to those effected in China. The acceptance of Dr Woods's proposals would exclude this possibility.
Debate on the Bill continues tonight.
