Minister Fitzgerald welcomes progress towards Adoption Agreement with Vietnam

Frances Fitzgerald, TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, has welcomed the discussions which have taken place between senior officials from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Adoption Authority of Ireland leading to agreement on the contents of the final administrative arrangements for the resumption of adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam.

The delegation of senior officials was on a week-long visit hosted by the Adoption Authority and Minister Fitzgerald.

Minister Fitzgerald said she expects that the agreement setting out the administrative arrangements will be signed during a visit to Ireland by the Vietnamese Minister for Justice, Mr. Ha Hung Cuong, in September.

Minister Fitzgerald stated: “I am pleased that this week’s discussions, along with my earlier visit to Vietnam, during which I issued an invitation to the Vietnamese to visit Ireland, has provided the opportunity for us to forge a close understanding and working relationship between the adoption authorities in both countries.”

The Minister added that “the need to resume adoptions between Ireland and Vietnam has been both long-awaited and much wished for by many Irish families. I hope that the priority focus I have placed on this matter since becoming Minister will result in a successful conclusion very shortly.”

Minister Fitzgerald also expressed her view that the discussions held by the Vietnamese delegation during their visit with the accredited bodies, ARC and Helping Hands, should greatly assist future interactions. The delegation also met with Vietnamese children and their adoptive parents at a function in Tallaght.