People who want to adopt children from abroad should undergo a longer assessment process than the nine to 10 hours suggested in the national framework for inter-country adoptions, a health board group has said.
The childcare advisory committee of the Eastern Health Board has urged reconsideration of this assessment period, saying it is too short for an proper assessment.
"It is felt that because many of these children are often traumatised and emotionally damaged, in many ways requiring special attention, prospective parents may need more one-to-one contact than the nine to 10 hours recommended," the committee said.
The committee also felt the period was too short for prospective parents to be informed of and understand the task they were undertaking.
The proposal for a longer assessment process comes despite growing concern about delays of up to four years for assessment in some health board areas.
A report entitled "Towards a Standardised Framework for Inter-Country Adoption Assessment Procedures", which was carried out on behalf of the Department of Health, set the present timeframe.
When the recommendation to change it was put before this month's meeting of the EHB, it met with a mixed reaction. Dr James Reilly said people needed an idea of how long the procedure would take in normal circumstances.
Dr Siobhan Barry disagreed and said the assessment time should be unlimited: "It has to be as long as it takes. It's like saying all appendix operations should be done in 15 minutes," she said.