High Court proceedings have begun to force the adoptive parents of Tristan Dowse to take responsibility for the three-year-old boy, who has been in an orphanage in Indonesia since his parents decided the adoption was not "working out".
The Attorney General, Rory Brady, announced proceedings against Joe and Lala Dowse last June.
He said he was seeking an order from the High Court to compel them to take care of the boy under constitutional provisions relating to the family.
It is understood that the case was mentioned last week, in the final days of the legal term, and will be heard when the new law term begins in October.
Cases involving children and their welfare are held in camera, and neither the proceedings nor any related material can be published.
It was hoped that this action would prompt the couple to take legal action to deregister the adoption in Ireland, thereby freeing up the Irish and Indonesian authorities to find a solution to his status.
As the adopted child of an Irish man and his wife, Tristan has Irish citizenship. He is no longer an Indonesian citizen and is therefore in a precarious legal position in Indonesia.
The Attorney General is acting in his constitutional capacity as guardian of the public interest and the rights of a citizen.
The Government knew of the situation of Tristan Dowse for over a year, shortly after he was handed over to the orphanage by Joe Dowse, but attempts to resolve his position only accelerated when the case came to public attention last April.
The Attorney General cannot seek to have the adoption struck out. Only those who register an adoption can seek to have it annulled, and an application would only be granted if this was seen by the court to be in the best interests of the child.
Solicitor for Mr and Ms Dowse, Gus Cullen, has said they planned to take proceedings to have the adoption annulled, but no progress was reported and the Attorney General then took action.
Discussions between the Adoption Board, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Indonesian authorities and representatives of the family have taken place, but have failed to resolve the issue. It is understood a US-based couple are prepared to adopt him when they are legally able to do so.
Tristan was handed over to an orphanage in Jakarta when Lala Dowse, who is a qualified doctor, gave birth to another child.
The couple have since moved to Azerbaijan, Ms Dowse's country of origin.