The new chairman of the Adoption Board tells Barry O'Keeffeabout his 'child-centred' aims
The new chairman of the Adoption Board has promised that it will be "child-centred", ensuring that the welfare of the child is the primary focus of all its dealings.
Geoffrey Shannon, who became chairman of the board last week, having been appointed a member in April, also defended the role of inter-country adoptions which have come in for some criticism.
New legislation is due shortly which will put the Adoption Board on an independent statutory footing under the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption. The board will be responsible for vetting domestic and international adoptions.
Shannon, a lawyer and independent legal expert on child law, played a key role in facilitating the original consultations on the forthcoming adoption legislation. He said he would ensure that adoption was the right of the child, not of the parent.
The Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption means that couples will have to get a declaration of eligibility and suitability before going abroad to adopt. This is part of the Hague Convention framework and some of it is already in place, but Shannon says the legislation will strengthen the board's role. The board will be involved right through the adoption process.
"It will ensure that inter-country adoption must take place in the interests of the child - not to make a childless couple happy," he says. "The Hague Convention gives us international powers and will ensure that we engage in adoption with countries with equivalent protections."
Shannon also says it is important the State provides post-adoption support to those who undergo the process. "We need a uniform standard between domestic and international adoptions. We should not differentiate," he says.
Various issues concerning adoption and what should be included in the legislation have sparked heated debate. These issues include whether same-sex couples should be able to adopt and what the upper age limit for adoption should be.
Shannon declined to be drawn on either issue. On the age-limit issue, all he says is: "Do the parents [ whatever their age] have the capacity to parent?"
In any event, these are issues which have to be considered by the Department of Health and Children. He feels that because legislation is currently being drafted, it would be inappropriate for him to comment on either issue.
Shannon has also pledged that under his tenure the board will be very transparent in its dealings and decision-making, and that it will post regular updates on its website which will provide clear indications of how it reaches decisions.
Although adoption legislation was introduced in the Republic in 1952, the organisation which Shannon now chairs has seen seismic changes in adoption trends. "It is a significantly different landscape today," says Shannon, pointing out that in 1967, for example, 96.9 per cent of all non-marital children in the Republic were placed for adoption. Nine years later, in 1976, the percentage had changed little, having dipped slightly to 93 per cent. By last year, however, just 1 per cent of non-marital children were put up for adoption.
Last year the board oversaw 80 domestic adoptions, but there were 300 inter-country adoptions.
Shannon says the rise in inter-country adoptions really began in 1990s as a humanitarian response to the situation in Romania. "This is where the whole issue of regulation kicks in," he says, "but if it's unregulated it leads to abuse."
Shannon explains that the Hague Convention was the first international attempt to regulate international adoptions and that it takes the best interests of the child into account, having regard to the fundamental rights of the child.
Although the trend towards international adoption has generated criticism and disquiet in some quarters, Shannon is a strong defender of such adoptions. He says these adoptions offer a home to a child who is "not in any position" to source a suitable family in his or her country of origin. Having seen it in operation, he feels that it offers the best chance to such children. "It offers a child stability and a child is entitled to that."
But, he says: "It should not become another form of international trade, with the child being a good to be traded."
So how can that be done?
Shannon says the international adoption process needs a number of safeguards. These include the consent of both parents,"not induced through bribery", and introducing safeguards which Shannon says are not necessarily in the public domain.
He says these include ensuring that the cultural heritage of the adopted child is maintained. This would include a commitment from the adopting parents that the child would return to his or her country of origin on occasions. "A child's sense of identity is hugely important," he says.
While acknowledging the cases which have hit the headlines, where inter-country adoptions have gone wrong, Shannon says, in general, adopting from abroad works well. "Research has shown very positive outcomes for children," he says.
The Adoption Board will also ensure that no money changes hands between the parents and the adopters - although some legitimately incurred expenses are allowed.
Shannon expects the necessary legislation on adoption to be passed by early next year. He says if further legislation is needed, the board will be to the forefront in pushing for it.
Speaking generally, Shannon, who is regarded as the leading expert in child law in Ireland, and also a leading expert in Europe, says the laws regarding access and custody should be strengthened. "We need to see access to a parent as the gift of a child, not of the parent who has custody." Too often, access is seen as the gift of the custodial parent, he adds.
Shannon says there is a need for the introduction of prohibitive sanctions by the courts, including transferring custody to the other parent when access is frustrated. He says where relationships break down, there should be a system of alternative dispute resolution where possible, rather than resorting to the courts.
In divorce, separation or breakdown situations, research has shown that the effect on children is more marked when the parents proceed through the courts, Shannon says.
He believes he can bring his experience in all these areas to bear on the adoption process. Although the board has a full-time chief executive, it is expected that his own role will be a very busy one.