Sir, - I refer to the Irish Foreign Adoption Group's (IFAG) letter (June 9th) which criticised your editorial on foreign adoption (May 30th). Our Association fully supports the sentiments expressed in that editorial and rejects the IFAG's criticism. We also note the Eastern Health Board's letter (June 13th) of rebuttal of the IFAG's references to them, which stated the IFAG were not for the first time "inaccurate and misleading".
The IFAG claim that research shows that inter-country adoption has benefits for the children and the adoptive parents. We ask how can this claim be reconciled with a recent reply (April 24th) from Minister Fahey to a Dail question where he stated: "Neither my Department nor the Adoption Board has carried out any research into the long-term effects of intercountry adoption. I am not aware of any such research carried out by a Health Board".
Organisations such as the IFAG are a symptom of successive Governments' short-sightedness in allowing an insatiable desire to source children from abroad to develop, without ensuring that proper protection and services are in place for these children. We note and welcome Minister Fahey's promise to introduce legislation to provide post-adoption services as a matter of urgency (some 46 years after the introduction of initial adoption legislation).
The IFAG's suggestion that the current importation of foreign children by Irish couples is different from the export of Irish children in years gone by, as these adoptions are "legally sound", is once again inaccurate and misleading. The Adoption Board has stated in its annual reports for the past number of years that the legislation from which it must work is outdated, incoherent and in need of updating as a matter of urgency. To suggest that foreign adoptions comply with our legislation is therefore of no comfort as our own legislation is woefully inadequate.
The IFAG stated, when referring to the countries exporting their children for adoption, that "these countries have very strict legal processes in place". Does anyone seriously believe that these countries can ensure that their strict legal processes concerning the export of their children are strictly adhered to?
It is the firm belief of this Association that the adoption of foreign children in the absence of strong legislation and stringent regulations is a form of child abuse. We support foreign adoption only in extraordinary circumstances involving true orphans of the world community, such as the children of Chernobyl and Rwanda, and only then after such safeguards are in place.
It is our heartfelt belief that the Adoption Act, 1991 (which permits the adoption of a child from any country) breaches the spirit of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. We therefore call on the Government to introduce the necessary enabling legislation to give full effect to the Convention without further delay. - Yours, etc., Anton Sweeney,
Chairperson,
Adopted Peoples Association,
Templeview Green,
Dublin 17.