Minimum standards to be followed by all those providing an adoption tracing and information service will be announced today by Minister for Children Brendan Smith.
These are contained in a Framework for the Provision of a National Adoption Information and Tracing Service, which was drawn up by the Adoption Board, the Health Service Executive, registered adoption agencies, the Council of Irish Adoption Agencies, and adoption and stakeholder groups.
All information and tracing service providers will have to comply with the requirements set out in the document, which also includes additional practice guidance for social workers.
According to Adoption Board chief executive John Collins, the various agencies have been providing an information and tracing service for more than 20 years. But through the work of the National Adoption Contact Preference Register, established in 2000, it emerged that there was a need for a more uniform service and more uniform practice among the agencies.
There is no comprehensive legislation governing information and tracing services, but a legal framework does exist, along with various court decisions setting out the considerations to be taken into account in balancing the needs and rights of the parties in the process. These may not always dovetail, and may even conflict.
The basic principles contained in the framework include respect for the confidentiality of individuals and their rights to self-determination; focusing on the needs of clients; respect for the rights of all parties to the adoption; openness, transparency and accountability; the operation of the principle of proportionality in the release of information; co-operation among service providers to ensure that clients get the most appropriate service; and a clear and transparent complaints procedure in all agencies.
Since the 1980s the focus of adoption has been on adopting children from abroad. The 1993 Hague convention on intercountry adoptions recognises the need to preserve and protect information on such children, though Ireland has not yet signed up to it.
Referring to the information and tracing challenges in the context of intercountry adoptions, Mr Collins said some countries were reluctant to provide information about birth families, fearing they would be contacted directly with the risk of money changing hands. However, he added that this was changing in some of the countries.