IRELAND’S ADOPTION AUTHORITY has today signed an agreement with its Vietnamese counterpart paving the way for adoptions between the two countries to resume after a three-year hiatus.

The Adoption Authority of Ireland signed the agreement with Vietnamese justice minister Ha Hung Cuong this morning.

Adoptions of Vietnamese children to Ireland were suspended in 2009 when Ireland declined to renew a bilateral pact between the two countries, following concerns raised by UNICEF over the possibility that some children being put up for adoption were not actually eligible for it.

Vietnam suspended all adoptions from 2010 in order to address UNICEF’s concerns.

Since then the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption has taken effect in Ireland, a regime which effectively means that signatory countries will only permit adoptions from other signatory countries.

Vietnam ratified the convention earlier this year, paving the way for adoptions to resume.

About 200 families were left in limbo by the decision to suspend adoptions in 2009, having already begun the process of adoptiong children from that country.

The resumption may not immediately allow those families to adopt Vietnamese children, however, as the new standards may mean a reduced number of children being available to be taken by new homes.