A FORMER senior official in the Department of Health and in the Office of the Minister for Children has been appointed as the first chief executive of the Adoption Authority.
Elizabeth Canavan was appointed to the post following an open public competition conducted by the Public Appointment Service.
Ms Canavan had previously played a major role in the Office for the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in the drafting, development and enactment of the Adoption Act 2010.
The Adoption Authority was established last November.
It said yesterday that its work to date had included the accreditation of a number of agencies for a range of activities.
“Currently, one agency has been registered for the purposes of providing information, advice and counselling to prospective adoptive parents; one agency for the purposes of providing mediation services; one agency for the purposes of assessment of prospective adopters; two agencies for the purposes of information and tracing; and one agency for the purposes of placement of children for adoption and information and tracing.”
The authority said that it was visiting Vietnam this week at the request of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald for the purpose of gathering information.
