PART II.

Adoption Orders.

8. —(1) There shall be a body to be known as An Bord Uchtála (in this Act referred to as the Board) to fulfil the functions assigned to it by this Act.

(2) The Board shall consist of a Chairman and six ordinary members.

(3) The Chairman and the ordinary members shall be appointed by the Government.

(4) A person shall not be appointed Chairman unless he is or has been a Judge of the Supreme Court, the High Court or the Circuit Court or a Justice of the District Court or is a barrister or solicitor of at least ten years' standing.

(5) The Board may act notwithstanding the existence of one vacancy in its membership.

(6) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply to the Board.

9. —(1) The Board may, on the application of a person desiring to adopt a child, make an order for the adoption of the child by that person.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple the order shall be for the adoption of the child by them jointly.

10. —An adoption order shall not be made unless the child—

(a) resides in the State, and

(b) is, at the date of the application, not less than six months and not more than seven years of age, and

(c) is illegitimate or an orphan.

11. —(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicants are a married couple who are living together, or

(b) the applicant is the mother or natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicant is a widow.

(2) Save in the case of a married couple living together, an order shall not be made for the adoption of a child by more than one person.

(3) An adoption order shall not be made unless—

(a) the applicant and, if the applicants are a married couple, each of them has attained the age of thirty years, or

(b) the applicant has attained the age of twenty-one years and is the mother, natural father or a relative of the child, or

(c) the applicants are a married couple and the wife is the mother of the child and she or her husband has attained the age of twenty-one years, or

(d) the applicants are a married couple and one of them is the natural father or a relative of the child and each of them has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(4) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicants reside in the State.

(5) An adoption order shall not be made unless the applicant or, if the applicants are a married couple, the husband is an Irish citizen or has been ordinarily resident in the State during the five years preceding the date of the application.

12. —(1) An adoption order shall not be made unless the conditions of this section in regard to religion are fulfilled.

(2) The applicant or applicants shall be of the same religion as the child and his parents or, if the child is illegitimate, his mother.

(3) The Board may, having regard to the special circumstances of a particular case, make an adoption order although the persons referred to in subsection (2) are not all of the same religion, provided that each of them is a member of one of the following religious denominations, namely, the Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Religious Society of Friends in Ireland, the Baptist Union of Ireland and the Brethren, commonly known as the Plymouth Brethren.

(4) The religion of a parent who is dead shall be taken to be the religion at the time of death.

(5) A child's religion shall be taken to be that in which he is being brought up.

(6) The Board shall have discretion to dispense with the condition as to the religion of a parent if unable to ascertain it.

13. —(1) The Board shall not make an adoption order unless satisfied that the applicant is of good moral character, has sufficient means to support the child and is a suitable person to have parental rights and duties in respect of the child.

(2) Where the applicants are a married couple, the Board shall satisfy itself as to the moral character and suitability of each of them.

14. —(1) An adoption order shall not be made without the consent of every person being the child's mother or guardian or having charge of or control over the child, unless the Board dispenses with any such consent in accordance with this section.

(2) The Board may dispense with the consent of any person if the Board is satisfied that that person is incapable by reason of mental infirmity of giving consent or cannot be found.

(3) The consent of a ward of court shall not be dispensed with except with the sanction of the Court.

(4) A person may give consent to the making of an adoption order without knowing the identity of the applicant for the order.

(5) A consent shall be given in writing in the prescribed form.

(6) A consent may be withdrawn at any time before the making of an adoption order.

15. —(1) A consent shall not be valid unless it is given after the child has attained the age of six months and not earlier than three months before the application for adoption.

(2) (a) If the mother of an illegitimate child changes her religion within twelve months before the birth of the child, her consent to the adoption of the child shall not be valid unless it is given after the child attains the age of one year.

(b) If she changes her religion within twelve months after the birth, her consent shall not be valid unless given at least twelve months after the date which the Board accepts as the date of her change of religion.

(3) The Board shall satisfy itself that every person whose consent is necessary and has not been dispensed with has given consent and understands the nature and effect of the consent and of the adoption order.

16. —(1) The following persons and no other persons shall be entitled to be heard on an application for an adoption order—

(a) the applicants,

(b) the mother of the child,

(c) the guardian of the child,

(d) a person having charge of or control over the child,

(e) a relative of the child,

(f) a representative of a registered adoption society which is or has been at any time concerned with the child,

(g) a priest or minister of a religion recognised by the Constitution (or, in the case of any such religion which has no ministry, an authorised representative of the religion) where the child or a parent (whether alive or dead) is claimed to be or to have been of that religion,

(h) an officer of the Board,

(i) any other person whom the Board, in its discretion, decides to hear.

(2) A person who is entitled to be heard may be represented by counsel or solicitor.

(3) The Board may hear the application wholly or partly in private.

(4) Where the Board has notice of proceedings pending in any court of justice in regard to the custody of a child in respect of whom an application is before the Board, the Board shall make no order in the matter until the proceedings have been disposed of,

17. —(1) On an application for an adoption order the Board, in circumstances in which it would be lawful to make the adoption order, may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the application and make an order (in this Act referred to as an interim order) giving the custody of the child to the applicant for a probationary period not exceeding two years.

(2) The Board may attach to the interim order conditions in regard to the maintenance, education and supervision of the welfare of the child.

(3) The Board may revoke the interim order and shall revoke it at the request of the person to whom custody of the child has been given or of the mother or guardian of the child.

(4) A person who contravenes, whether by act or omission, a condition of an interim order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months or to both.

18. —Where the adopters (or sole adopter) of a child have died, a further adoption order may be made in accordance with this Act in respect of the child and, for this purpose, the child shall be taken to be the lawful child of the deceased adopters or adopter.

19. —(1) Where a person applies for an adoption order within the time limited by subsection (5) and satisfies the Board that he has had the child under his care from a date before the passing of this Act, the provisions of this section shall have effect.

(2) The adoption order may be made although the child was, at the date of the application, over seven years of age.

(3) If the child has been living with the applicant for at least three years and the Board is satisfied that the child's mother consented to his adopting the child as his own, the Board may dispense with her consent under section 14.

(4) The Board shall give due consideration to the wishes of the child having regard to his age and understanding.

(5) An application under this section shall be made within two years after the commencement of this Act or within such further period as the Board in any particular case may for reasonable cause allow.

20. —(1) The Board may (and, if so requested by an applicant for an adoption order, the mother or guardian of the child or any person having charge of or control over the child, shall, unless it considers the request frivolous) refer any question of law arising on an application for an adoption order to the High Court for determination.

(2) Subject to rules of court, a case stated under this section may be heard in camera.

21. —The Board may amend an adoption order by correcting any error in the particulars contained therein.

22. —(1) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall maintain an Adopted Children Register.

(2) An entry shall be made in the register with respect to each adopted child. The entry shall be in the form set out in the Second Schedule and contain the particulars required by the form.

(3) If the date of the child's birth is unknown, the Board shall determine the probable date of birth and that date shall be entered as the child's date of birth.

(4) The country of birth of the child shall be entered in the register if the Board, being satisfied thereof, so directs.

(5) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall keep an index to make traceable the connexion between each entry and the corresponding entry in the register of births. That index shall not be open to public inspection; and no information from it shall be given to any person except by order of a Court or of the Board.

(6) If an adoption order is amended the entry relating to it shall be amended accordingly.

(7) If an adoption order is set aside the entry shall be cancelled.

(8) The Board shall send to an tArd-Chláraitheoir the particulars necessary to enable him to comply with this section.

(9) An tArd-Chláraitheoir shall keep at his office an index to the register; and persons shall be entitled to search that index and to have a certified copy of an entry in the register or of items contained in the entry on the same terms and conditions in all respects as to fees and otherwise as are applicable under the Births and Deaths Registration Acts, 1863 to 1952, or any other enactment in respect of the register of births; and such fees shall be collected and disposed of in the same manner as fees payable under the said recited Acts.

(10) Regulations under section 6 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 (No. 8 of 1952), (which relates to the issue of abridged certificates) may provide for the issue, as respects any entry in the Adopted Children Register, of a certificate of such items contained in the entry as may be specified in the regulations.

(11) A certified copy of an entry in the Adopted Children Register, if purporting to be issued under the seal of Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheora, shall, without further proof, be received as evidence of the facts stated therein and any requirement of law for the production of a certificate of birth shall be satisfied by the production of such certified copy.

23. —A public assistance authority may, at their discretion, contribute towards the expenses incurred by any person in connexion with an application for an adoption order in respect of a child towards whose support they are entitled to contribute.