Chief of adoption agency urged to quit post

URGENT calls have been made for the resignation of a member of the Adoption Board, recently appointed as head of a new Irish/Vietnamese adoption agency.

Adoption Ireland, which represents adopted people, has pointed to a possible conflict of interest after Sharon O'Driscoll was named new chief executive of the Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency.

Helping Hands, which has been licensed by the Irish Adoption Board and Vietnamese adoption authorities, is now responsible for all adoptions from Vietnam to Ireland. Ms O'Driscoll is on sabbatical from the Adoption Board.

Adoption Ireland is also highly critical of the absence of an adopted person on the board and has hit out at what it says is its lack of regulation of adoption agencies.

Adoption Ireland called for the full disclosure of the process of approval of the Helping Hands agency; what authority it will have; how it will be independently regulated and what methods that it will use to approve adoptions.

Concerns

Anton Sweeney, who is Adoption Ireland's chairperson said: "The Adoption Board is unable to publish any details of regulations or minimum standards governing the operation of adoption agencies."

The organisation also raised concerns about the Adoption Board's failure to ensure the legality of adoptions.

"We need look no further than the Tristan Dowse [whose adoptive parents sent him back to the orphanage he came from] case to see that the Adoption Board has failed in the approval of adoptions and the best interests of Vietnamese children are not being served by introducing a new agency without clearly defining how the agency will be regulated and by whom," said Claire McGettrick of Adoption Ireland.

Ireland is likely to ratify the Hague Convention for the Protection of Children in Intercountry Adoption this year, yet it had a bilateral agreement with Vietnam, where the Hague Convention had not been signed. In light of this, Adoption Ireland was reiterating its call for an end to all bilateral agreements with non-Hague countries. "Vietnam is one of the most corrupt countries in the world, not least for adoption," said Mr Sweeney.

"And it is already inconceivable that this bilateral agreement is in existence, but the launch of an agency completely dedicated to arranging Vietnam adoptions is beyond belief," he added. Neither Ms O'Driscoll or the Helping Hands Agency could be contacted last night.

- Frank Khan