Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Many of the issues I wanted to raise have already been raised. On average, how long does it take for people to get a certificate of suitability, from the date they apply to the date the assessment is completed? What is the average time from the date a person is deemed to be suitable and has the appropriate declaration to the date of adoption? There must be many people declared suitable to adopt on the list, because the number adopted is much lower than the number deemed suitable. How many are deemed suitable but have not yet adopted? It is important that people be aware of these figures. It must be very difficult for people who are very committed to adopting and who find they are waiting, or are unsuccessful. I am not sure people are aware of this when they begin the process.

Since 1952, there have been approximately 46,000 illegal adoptions in Ireland. Have we any idea, in view of the media coverage, of the number of illegal adoptions where different structures were established? For example, there was a structure whereby a pregnant person checked into a maternity unit under the name of the person who wanted to adopt the child, ensuring the birth certificate gave no indication that the child was adopted. In view of recent media coverage of one place in Dublin, have we any idea of the number of such occurrences and the scale on which it happened? It also happened in other areas of the country. Given that there is no information available to such people about their natural parents, is the Adoption Authority is examining structures it might establish to deal with the issue in view of recent media coverage?