Tusla sent a victim of the St Patrick’s Guild adoption scandal an almost entirely censored copy of her mother’s death certificate so as “to ensure that it can’t be found” in the General Registration Office (GRO).

The scoping exercise into illegal birth registrations is restricted to only examining records for specific markers which might indicate illegality.

The Irish Examiner first wrote about Tressa Reeves in 2010. Her case sparked the first-ever audit of records by the then Adoption Board and highlighted again Ireland’s murky adoption history.

Finally there will be a sample audit of all records held by the State, writes Conall Ó Fátharta.