Approximately 4,500 children have been adopted into Ireland from abroad since 1991, delegates attending a conference in Dublin were told today.
A number of international experts are attending the one-day conference to discuss the growth in foreign adoptions.
Prof Sheila Greene, director of TCD's Children's Research Centre
The conference, which has been organised by Trinity College Dublin and the Adoption Board, aims to highlight the implications for research, policy and practice including legislative challenges to deal with the growing phenomenon.
Among those addressing the conference are Dr Elizabeth Nixon of the Health Service Executive and Prof Richard Sullivan from University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
Academics at Trinity's Children's Research Centre published a study last year that found Ireland has one of the highest per capita rates of intercountry adoption in Europe.
Within Ireland, no more than 50 domestic adoptions a year are carried out on average, compared to almost 500 intercountry adoptions from 15 different countries.
Of those children adopted into the country, most were around 17 months old when adopted and 80 per cent had spent some time in institutional care.
"Intercountry adoption is a growing phenomenon in Ireland and internationally," said Prof Sheila Greene, director of the Children's Research Centre.
Additional reporting:PA
