Up to 25 couples waiting to adopt a baby

Potential adoptive parents can expect to wait two to five years for an assessment to be carried out.

There are currently 20 to 25 couples and single people waiting to be matched to a baby for domestic adoption, the Irish Examiner has learnt.

However, most of those applicants will not be successful because there are only around five to seven infants placed for adoption every year, according to the Adoption Authority of Ireland.