Sir, - From the "cocoon of my defensive bunker", I would like to clarify two points in response to Prof Patricia Casey's letter (November 13th) on adoption assessments.
Firstly, the "in-depth investigation by a firm of consultants" she refers to is, in fact, a report on regional variations on assessment procedures which is being prepared by the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at UCD.
Secondly, nowhere in my article did I suggest that "the needs of would-be-adoptive parents and children were mutually exclusive". On the contrary, they must be compatible if adoption is to work. My main point, however, was that the needs of children and their birth parents must take precedence over those of adoptive parents, because when this is not done major scandals occur. - Yours, etc., Kieran McGrath,
Editor, Irish Social Worker, Pearse Street, Dublin 2.