Calls to widen the scope of adoption probe

Any audit of adoption records needs to examine all forms of illegal adoption and not just illegal birth registrations.

That is the view of adoption campaigners who have spent more than two decades calling on successive governments to carry out a full audit of all adoption records held by the State.

It comes as Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone announced the terms of reference for a sampling exercise of records held by Tusla and the Adoption Authority of Ireland (AAI) to see if the extent of illegal birth registrations is widespread and requires a full, forensic examination of all records.