Sharp drop in children available to be adopted

Politicians, many of whom admitted to being heavily lobbied by prospective adoptive parents, have locked horns with children’s rights groups and the Adoption Authority over the sharp drop in children available for intercountry adoption.

There are 14 Irish people seeking to adopt for every child available for adoption, according to the AAI.

Children’s Right’s Alliance deputy chief executive Maria Corbett strongly defended the previous government’s decision to sign up to the 2010 Hague Convention on adoption saying “international adoption can fall victim to criminal acts such as corruption and the trafficking of children” and that Hague safeguards were “about managing this risk that is inherently involved in international adoption”.