Adoption Act 2010

PART 1 Preliminary and General Matters

1. Short title.

1.— This Act may be cited as the Adoption Act 2010.

2. Commencement.

2.— (1) This Act comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister may appoint by order or orders, either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision, and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(2) An order under subsection (1) may, in respect of the repeal of the Acts specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 and the revocation of the statutory instruments specified in Part 2 of that Schedule effected by section 7, appoint different days for the repeal of different Acts or different provisions of them and the revocation of different statutory instruments or different provisions of them.

3. Interpretation.

3.— (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—

“accredited body” means a body of persons whose name is entered in the register of accredited bodies;

F1[“Act of 1964”means theGuardianship of Infants Act 1964;]

F1[”Act of 2010”means theCivil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010;]

F2[”Act of 2015”means the Gender Recognition Act 2015;]

“Adopted Children Register” means the Adopted Children Register maintained by an tArd-Chláraitheoir under section 22 of the Adoption Act 1952 and continued in being by section 84;

“Adoption Acts” means the Adoption Acts 1952 to 1998;

“adoption committee” means a committee established by the F3[Child and Family Agency] under section 36;

“adoption order” means an order for the adoption of a child made—

(a) before the establishment day, by An Bord Uchtála under the Adoption Acts, or

(b) on or after the establishment day, by the Authority under this Act;

“Article”, in relation to a numbered Article, means the Article so numbered of the Hague Convention and a reference to a subdivision of a numbered Article shall be read accordingly;

“assessment of eligibility and suitability”, in relation to a person, means an assessment of whether or not the person—

(a) comes within the classes of persons in whose favour an adoption order may by virtue of section 33be made, and

(b) is under section 34 a suitable person to have parental rights and duties in relation to a child;

“the Authority” means the body established by section 94;

F4[”bilateral agreement”means an agreement referred to insection 73entered into by the Government and a non-contracting state concerning intercountry adoption;]

“bilateral agreement adoption” means an adoption—

(a) effected in accordance with a bilateral agreement in a state that is a party to the agreement, and

(b) certified, in accordance with the agreement, by the competent authority of the state of the adoption as having been so effected;

“Central Authority” means—

(a) in relation to a Convention adoption, the body designated as the Central Authority by a contracting state, under Article 6 (which relates to the designation and appointment of Central Authorities) to perform the functions conferred under the Hague Convention on such authorities,

(b) in relation to a bilateral agreement adoption, a body designated as the Central Authority under that agreement to perform the functions conferred under that agreement on such authorities, and

(c) in relation to an intercountry adoption in the circumstances referred to in section 81, a body designated as the Central Authority under an arrangement under that section to perform the functions conferred under that arrangement on such authorities,

and in each case, in relation to functions performable in the State, means the Authority;

“chief executive officer” means the person appointed to be the chief executive officer of the Authority under section 103;

“child” means any person who is under the age of 18 years;

F1[”civil partner”shall be construed in accordance with section 3 of the Act of 2010;

”cohabitant”shall be construed in accordance with section 172(1) of the Act of 2010;

”cohabiting couple”means 2 adults who are cohabitants of each other and who have been living together as cohabitants for a continuous period of not less than 3 years;]

“contracting state” means a state, other than any state to whose accession to the Hague Convention the State has raised an objection pursuant to Article 44 (which relates to accession to the Hague Convention), in respect of which the Hague Convention has entered into force in accordance with Article 46 and shall be read so that this Act shall have effect in relation to—

(a) if a contracting state has declared under Article 45 (which makes special provision for states with 2 or more territorial units) that the Hague Convention shall extend to one or more than one territorial unit within that state, that unit or those units, and

(b) each other contracting state;

“Convention adoption” means an intercountry adoption effected in accordance with the Hague Convention in a contracting state and for which a certificate under paragraph (1) of Article 23 (which relates to recognition of adoptions certified by the competent authority of the state of adoption) has been provided;

“declaration of eligibility and suitability” means a declaration issued by the Authority under section 40;

“domestic adoption” means the adoption of a child who was habitually resident in the State before his or her adoption by a person or persons habitually resident in the State;

F5["donor-conceived child" has the same meaning as it has in Part 2 of theChildren and Family Relationships Act 2015;

"father", in relation to a child, includes a man who is, undersection 5of theChildren and Family Relationships Act 2015, a parent of the child where that child is a donor-conceived child;]

“establishment day” means the establishment day appointed under section 6;

“financial year”, in relation to the Authority, means a period of 12 months ending on 31 December in any year and, in the case of the first financial year of the Authority, means the period commencing on the establishment day and ending on 31 December in the year in which the establishment day falls;

F2[”gender recognition certificate”has the same meaning as it has in the Gender Recognition Act 2015;]

“guardian”, in relation to a child, means a person who—

F6[(a) is a guardian of the child pursuant to the Act of 1964, other than a guardian appointed—

(i) under section 6C of that Act where subsection (9) of that section applies to that appointment but the court has not made an order that that person enjoys the rights and responsibilities specified in subsection (11)(f) of that section, or

(ii) under section 6E of that Act, or]

(b) is appointed to be a guardian of the child by—

(i) deed or will, or

(ii) order of a court in the State,

and has not been removed from office;

“Hague Convention” means the Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in respect of Intercountry Adoption, 1993, the text of which, subject to subsection (3), is set out for convenience of reference in Schedule 2;

“interim order” means an order under section 44;

“intercountry adoption” means the adoption of a child habitually resident in a state (the “state of origin”), whether a contracting state or non-contracting state, who has been, is being or is to be transferred into another state (the “receiving state”)—

(a) after the child’s adoption in the state of origin by a person or persons habitually resident in the receiving state, or

(b) for the purposes of an adoption, in either the receiving state or the state of origin, by a person or persons habitually resident in the receiving state;

“intercountry adoption effected outside the State” means—

(a) an adoption of a child effected outside the State at any time before the establishment day that, at that time, conformed to the definition of “foreign adoption” in section 1 of the Adoption Act 1991,

(b) an adoption, other than an intercountry adoption, of a child effected outside the State at any time on or after the establishment day that conforms to the definition of “foreign adoption” in section 1 of the Adoption Act 1991 as it read on 30 May 1991, or

(c) an intercountry adoption of a child effected outside the State at any time on or after the establishment day that, at that time, is in compliance with the applicable provisions of this Act and the Hague Convention;

“local authority” has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 2001;

“Minister” means the Minister for Health and Children;

“non-contracting state” means a state other than a contracting state;

F7[…]

F8[“parent”means, in relation to a child—

(a) the mother or father of the child, or

F9[(b) a woman (other than the mother) who is, undersection 5of theChildren and Family Relationships Act 2015, a parent of the child where that child is a donor-conceived child,]

and includes an adopter of the child;]

“personal public service number” has the meaning assigned to it by section 262 of the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005;

“prescribed” means prescribed by the Minister by regulations under this Act;

“receiving state”, in relation to an intercountry adoption, means the state in which the prospective adopters of a child are habitually resident;

“register of accredited bodies” means the register kept under section 35 of the Adoption Act 1952 as the Adoption Societies Register and continued in being under section 126 as the register of accredited bodies;

F2[”register of gender recognition of intercountry adoptions”means the register established undersection 91A;]

“register of intercountry adoptions” means the register established under section 6 of the Adoption Act 1991 as the Register of Foreign Adoptions and continued in being under section 90 as the register of intercountry adoptions;

“relative”, in relation to a child, means a grandparent, brother, sister, uncle or aunt of the child, whether of the whole blood, of the half-blood or by affinity and includes the spouse of any such person, F10[relationship to the child being traced through a parent of that child];

F11[“relevant non-guardian”means, in relation to a child—

(a) a father of the child who is not a guardian of the child pursuant to the Act of 1964,

F12[(b) a parent of the child undersection 5of theChildren and Family Relationships Act 2015who is not a guardian pursuant to the Act of 1964,]

(c) a person who is appointed as a guardian of the child pursuant to section 6C of the Act of 1964 where subsection (9) of that section applies to that appointment but in respect of which the court has not made an order that the person enjoys the rights and responsibilities specified in subsection (11)(f) of that section, or

(d) a person appointed by the court to be a temporary guardian of the child under section 6E of the Act of 1964;]

“state of origin”, in relation to a child, means the state in which the child is habitually resident before—

(a) his or her adoption, or

(b) his or her proposed adoption,

by a person habitually resident in another state.

F1[”step parent”has the meaning assigned to it bysection 37;]

(2) In this Act, references to adopters shall, where the context so requires, include references to an adopter.

(3) In Schedule 2, in a head note to a numbered Article, the descriptor following the number—

(a) is not part of the Hague Convention, and

(b) shall be considered to have been added editorially for convenience of reference only.

4. References to making arrangements for adoption.

4.— In this Act, references to the making of arrangements for the adoption of a child (whether a domestic adoption or an intercountry adoption) shall be read as including references to the following activities:

(a) making any agreement or arrangement for, or facilitating, the adoption or maintenance of the child by any person;

(b) initiating or taking part in any negotiations the purpose or effect of which is the making of any such agreement or arrangement;

(c) causing another person to initiate or take part in any such negotiations;

(d) offering to enter into negotiations on behalf of the child’s parents or prospective adopters for the purpose of arranging an adoption;

(e) carrying out or making any arrangement for the carrying out of an assessment of eligibility and suitability;

(f) preparing reports on assessments of eligibility and suitability;

(g) providing information, advice and counselling concerning adoption to any prospective adopters;

(h) providing information, advice and counselling concerning adoption to a mother or guardian who proposes to place a child for adoption;

(i) providing information and advice concerning the child’s medical or other status in connection with adoption;

(j) placing a child with any prospective adopters;

(k) one or more of the following:

(i) assisting—

(I) adopted persons (18 years of age or over) in tracing their F13[parents] or other relatives, and

(II) F13[parents] or other relatives (18 years of age or over) of adopted persons in tracing the adopted persons;

(ii) counselling the persons described in subparagraph (i);

(iii) mediating between adopted persons described in subparagraph (i) and F13[parents] or other relatives, both as described in that subparagraph.

5. Supplemental provisions to section 4 in relation to certain intercountry adoptions.

5.— In addition but without prejudice to section 4, in this Act, references to making arrangements for the adoption of a child shall be read in relation to an intercountry adoption as including references to the following activities:

(a) contacting, directly or indirectly in connection with an intercountry adoption, any person, institution or authority in the child’s state of origin that is authorised by that state to make arrangements for adoption;

(b) preparing pre-adoption reports for the purpose of Article 20 (which relates to Central Authorities keeping each other informed) or of any provision of a bilateral agreement;

(c) transmitting to the Central Authority in the child’s state of origin the declaration of eligibility and suitability together with the assessment report prepared under section 37 and the recommendation made under section 39.

6. Establishment day.

6.— The Minister by order shall appoint a day as the establishment day for the purposes of this Act.

7. Repeals and revocations.

7.— (1) The Acts specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 are repealed to the extent specified in column (3) of that Part of that Schedule.

(2) The statutory instruments specified in Part 2 of Schedule 1 are revoked to the extent specified in column (3) of that Part of that Schedule.

8. Expenses.

8.— The expenses incurred by the Minister in the administration of this Act shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

PART 2 Legal Effect of Hague Convention

9. Hague Convention to have force of law.

9.— The Hague Convention has the force of law in the State.

10. Explanatory report.

10.— (1) Judicial notice shall be taken of the explanatory report prepared by G. Parra-Aranguren in relation to the Hague Convention, a copy of which has been placed in the Oireachtas Library.

(2) When interpreting any provision of the Hague Convention, a court or the Authority, as the case may be, shall pay due regard to that explanatory report.

PART 3 Placement for Adoption

Chapter 1

11. Interpretation (Part 3).

11.— In this Part—

“accredited body” includes the F14[Child and Family Agency];

“father”, in relation to a child, includes a person who believes himself to be the father of the child.

Chapter 2

12. Visits and enquiries pertaining to adoptions.

F15[12.—The Authority may authorise a member or employee of the Authority or of the Child and Family Agency to—

(a) visit the homes of the child, the guardians of the child, the applicants for an adoption order or the recognition of an intercountry adoption effected outside the State and the person having custody of the child for the purposes of an adoption, and

(b) make enquiries on behalf of the Authority.]

13. Restriction on placing child for adoption.

13.— An accredited body shall not place a child for adoption unless—

(a) the child has attained the age of 6 weeks,

(b) it does so only for adoption purposes under this Act, and

(c) it does so in accordance with this Act and the Hague Convention, in particular with Article 17 (which relates to when the state of origin may entrust a child to prospective adopters).

14. Explanation to mother or guardian as to effect of adoption.

14.— Where the mother or guardian of a child proposes to place the child with an accredited body for adoption, the accredited body, before accepting the child, shall—

(a) furnish the mother or guardian with a statement in writing explaining—

(i) that a placement for adoption is the beginning of the adoption process,

(ii) the effect of a placement for adoption upon the rights of a mother or guardian,

(iii) the effect of an adoption order upon the rights of a mother or guardian, and

(iv) the requirements specified in sections 26 to 28 in respect of the consents necessary under this Act in relation to an adoption order,

(b) ensure that the mother or guardian understands the statement and signs a document to that effect, and

(c) provide information, advice and counselling to the mother or guardian concerned.

15. Care of child pending placement.

15.— (1) Where a child has been placed with an accredited body for adoption, the accredited body, in accordance with such regulations as the Minister may make respecting arrangements—

(a) for the care of children, and

(b) for securing generally their welfare,