Towards guidelines for the accreditation of inter-country adoption mediation agencies

The objective of the report is to present draft guidelines for the accreditation and registration by the Irish Adoption Board (Now Adoption Authority of Ireland) of intercountry adoption mediation agencies that are based in Ireland. The Guidelines have regard to the 1952 Irish adoption law, as well as proposed legislation which will ratify the Hague Convention (Now Adoption Act 2010). The guidelines are also intended to cover the inspection of, and maintaining standards by, the intercountry adoption mediation agencies (ICAMA) accredited and registered by the Adoption Board. The Guidelines were prepared in Draft format initially for consultation purposes with interested parties. They take account of the requirements of the Hague Convention, and international practice for the accreditation of ICAMA, and in particular the arrangements in the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Canada, Australia and the USA.