Mr. Cormac Quinlan:

I am aware of the changes brought in as a result of the Senator's intervention on that occasion. Currently, under the adoption amendment legislation there is still a requirement. A child has to be in care up to a period of three years before they are possibly eligible for adoption. That does not mean to say he or she will be adopted. That is just in terms of eligibility. They can be in voluntary care, on a care order or both. The adoption process will still go through a process of ensuring all of those steps are taken, including that due consideration has been given to reunification or otherwise. Up to recently, we have had court cases where that has been rigorously tested to make sure those mechanisms were assured before that child could be released for adoption.