The adoptive parents of Tristan Dowse have issued a statement, to RTÉ news, in which they agree to take immediate steps to clarify the legal status of the adoption.
Their solicitor met with the Adoption Board earlier today and Kieran Gildea, Registrar of the Adoption Board, said he believed they intended to pursue clarification of the adoption in Indonesia.
"Furthermore they intend to look into the possibility of Tristan's re-adoption in Indonesia and apply to the High Court in Ireland to delete the recognition of the adoption on the register of Foreign Adoptions." he said. "This is a unique course of action," he added.
Tristan has been living in an orphanage outside Jakarta for the last year since he was abandoned by Irishman Joe Dowse and his Azerbaijani wife, Lala.
Tristan Dowse
Dermot Ahern,the Minister for Foreign Affairs, told RTÉ's Pat Kennyshow this morning that although the adoption is legal in Ireland and Tristan is therefore an Irish citizen, there are doubts as to the legality under Indonesian law:
"Up to recently it was our view that this was a valid adoption under Indonesian law, but there are now indications that proper procedures may not have been followed. This is something we are trying to tease out with the authorities," he said.
"If the Indonesian government can go to court to annul the adoption, then we have to decide what is best for the child."
When asked if Tristan could lose his Irish passport, Mr Ahern said that if an application was made to the High Court to, in effect, annul the adoption then "the issue of citizenship could be looked at as well".
The decision of the courts in Indonesia and Ireland could affect the possibility of Tristan being homed with another family.
"Under Indonesian law, a non-Indonesians cannot be put up for adoption. At the moment Tristan, as an Irish citizen, is a non-Indonesian."
But he added that Tristan also has rights under Irish law, such as the right to maintenance from his adoptive parents, rights of inheritance and the right to live in Ireland.
"We cannot take those rights away just because there is a furore about his position. . . . The child is adopted under Irish law and it is only the High Court which can take that away," he said.
Mr Ahern was keen to stress that any decisions would be made in the best interests of the child.
When pressed about the possibility of action against the Dowses, Mr Ahern was unwilling to comment on the specific case. However, he did agree that legislation exists to allow action to be taken against adoptive parents who abandon their child.
He also said that there was no further information, as yet, as to why the adoption had broken down.
The Irish Adoption Board is to send a social worker and senior official to Indonesia to help unravel the case. Mr Ahern has also asked a legal official to join the Irish Ambassador to Singapore, Hugh Swift, who is in Indonesia this week.