Minister for Children Barry Andrews has published a new adoption bill, which will give force of law to the Hague Convention on the protection of children and inter-country adoption.
Mr Andrews said this would safeguard standards of adoption between countries that were part of the Hague Convention and ensure that the interests of children are paramount.
He said the Government was working on arranging bilateral arrangements with countries like Russia, Vietnam and Ethiopia which are not part of the Hague Convention.
In 2007, 160 children were adopted from Russia by Irish families.
Without a bilateral agreement, adopting from Russia, or any other country which is not in the Hague Convention, will not be possible once the Adoption Bill 2009 becomes law.
Mr Andrews said he hoped bilateral agreements could be reached before the Bill is enacted into law.
