As the Dáil winds down for it's summer recess, after the imminent local and European elections, it is perhaps an appropriate time to look back over the past year and examine where we are now in relation to AdoptionIreland's primary campaigns for a Post-Adoption State Service, and ratification of the Hague Convention.

By this time last year, we had had an announcement from Minister Brian Lenihan that he was going to make public the draft Bills for both Hague and the infamous Mary Hanafin Bill, known as the "Adoption Information, Post-Adoption Information and Associated Issues Bill", and that he would hold a public consultation on both of them.

We at AdoptionIreland had rightly condemned the Hanafin Bill. It would have criminalised adopted people for attempting to contact their natural parents; it made a person jump through a series of hoops if they wanted to obtain their Birth Certificate; it provided for a two-tier system, where those adopted after the legislation would enjoy completely different rights from those adopted prior to it. (See here for a full list of our objections).

Simultaneously, we were faced with the prospect of the removal of our ability to obtain our own Birth Certificates in Joyce House, under the guise of a computerisation project to "modernise" searches.

One year later, things have progressed somewhat. The consultation process began, and organisations and the general public were given the opportunity to make submissions, both in writing and at a two-day conference.

Most importantly, from our point of view, Brian Lenihan has now taken the decision to scrap the Hanafin Bill, and to go back to the drawing board. Following the consultation process, he has also given us assurances that any new Bill will no longer contain criminal sanctions against those who search.

Similarly, we have received assurances from the Minister that the computerisation project at the GRO will now cater for the searches that adopted people need to make; and that we will continue to have access to both the old paper records and the new, combined Index to the Register of (domestic and foreign) Adoptions. This is a marked improvement, as previously the index to foreign adoptions was not publicly accessible. This progressive step introduces at least some long-overdue transparency to an area that can often be murky.

Earlier this year, we also saw the launch of the Adoption Board's first ever Corporate Plan. The plan includes realistic goals and timeframes, and marks something of a sea-change in the way that the Board conducts its business. Since the launch of the plan, work has been ongoing behind the scenes to gear up for the provision of proper post-adoption services.

This is not to say that all in the garden is rosy. It is now several months since the consultation process heard from its participants and we are still awaiting new, draft legislation in the post-adoption area. The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children in Inter-Country Adoption still needs to be ratified, now moreso than ever. We are deeply unhappy that Ireland still continues to ratify bi-lateral agreements with other countries (e.g., Vietnam), that have also failed to ratify Hague — especially when other "source" countries, like Romania, are finally halting the wholesale exploitation of their children. We cannot be perceived as anything approaching a "centre of excellence" until Hague is on the Statute books and the Adoption Authority has been established and properly resourced.

So yes — there has indeed been some progress and there is much to be glad about. But perhaps the phrase most appropriate here is one we can borrow from a certain Government political party: "A lot done, more to do."