NEW ADOPTION legislation due to be published shortly may restrict the number of countries from which parents can adopt children.
The Government is due to publish an adoption Bill shortly which will give the force of law to the Hague Convention, an international agreement which establishes minimum standards for the adoption of children between countries.
Once enacted, parents in Ireland may only adopt from countries which are signatories to the convention or where a bilateral adoption agreement exists between Ireland and another country.
At present the lack of regulation on inter-country adoptions means parents are free to go about organising an adoption once they have received a declaration of suitability from adoption authorities in Ireland.
Official figures for 2007 contained in the Adoption Authority's annual report show that a total of 377 foreign children were adopted in the period by Irish families.
Russia (160) and Vietnam (130) accounted for most adoptions, followed by China (31), Ethiopia (17), Thailand (nine), Mexico (eight) and Ukraine (eight).
Numbers being adopted from China have been declining in recent years, due largely to delays of anything between three and four years to adopt from there.
In contrast, numbers have been rising dramatically from countries such as Vietnam, particularly since Ireland signed a bilateral adoption agreement with that country.
In Russia, too, adoption procedures mean children can be adopted within months.
At present about 75 countries have ratified the Hague Convention. However, countries such as Russia and Ethiopia have yet to ratify the convention and do not have a bilateral agreement with Ireland. These will be closed off as eligible countries for inter-country adoptions once the convention comes into force.