Minister's adoption remarks 'worrying'

Remarks by Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald that the Adoption Act is “restrictive” and may be re-examined to allow Irish couples to adopt more easily from a wider range of countries, have been labelled as “worrying”.

Under current legislation, Irish couples may only adopt from countries which have signed up to the Hague Convention or with which we have bilateral agreements.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner from Washington, where she signed an adoption agreement with the US, Ms Fitzgerald said the Adoption Authority (AAI) had indicated that the Adoption Act was “quite restrictive” as it required a bilateral agreement in order to make arrangements with non-Hague countries.