By 2015, the department was being told by adopted people, campaigners, and even by its own regulatory body that a full-scale audit was needed, writes Conall Ó Fátharta.

A woman and her son who was adopted shortly after she gave birth to him in the early 1960s have sued a Catholic adoption agency in the High Court.

A mother and son separated through an illegal adoption from St Patrick’s Guild will end a four-year battle with the State and the guild in the High Court next month.

Despite protesting otherwise, the State knew about the practice of illegal adoption for years, with Tressa Reeves gathering evidence of her son’s illegal registration in 1997 and the authorities informed in 2001, writes Conall Ó Fátharta.