Report aims to clear adoption group of impropriety

ADOPTION agency Helping Hands, currently under investigation by the Adoption Board in relation to fees it charges people to adopt from Vietnam, has issued a report clearing the agency of any impropriety.

Helping Hands commissioned accountancy firm Grant Thornton to conduct a review of its accounts for 2007 and 2008 after the agency was specifically singled out for criticism in Unicef’s International Social Services report (ISS) last year.

The Adoption Board, which accredits adoption agencies here, also appointed a leading Dublin-based forensic accountant to investigate the agency’s accounts on foot of the concerns raised in the ISS report.