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Complaints Database

Why this service

AdoptionIreland: The Adopted Peoples Association, in a meeting with a sub-committee of the Irish Adoption Board, were informed by them that they only receive a very small number of complaints about post-adoption services provided by the voluntary adoption agencies. We informed them that this was because adopted people and natural parents were generally unwilling to make a complaint about a particular agency if they were dependent on that agency to help them with a trace. The Adoption Board sub-committee accepted that this was a valid concern and offered a compromise - that complaints about agencies could be made through the APA.

How does it work?

People can make complaints about treatment received from an agency, directly to the APA.

What purpose will it serve?

Where possible, and only where we have your permission, the APA will take up your complaint with the agency, and/or with the Adoption Board. We will also use complaints to gather statistics, e.g., about waiting list times, methods and policies used by agencies, etc.

How does this differ from me making a complaint myself?

Before taking up your complaint, the APA will discuss it with you. You will know that the APA will be bringing your complaint directly, and only as agreed with you, to one or more of following:
  • The agency concerned
  • The Adoption Board
  • The Minister with responsibility for adoption and her officials
  • And where appropriate, the media
Very soon after we begin collecting complaints, patterns will emerge showing the common problems in certain agencies — waiting lists, unreasonable requests, unacceptable practices, inefficiency, and so on. These areas will then have to be addressed.

What if I don't want to be identified?

You can still make a complaint. While the APA will need to know who you are to ensure that a genuine complaint is being made, we will not reveal your identity without your permission. Sometimes, this will obviously mean we cannot act on your complaint. Generally, however, the least we can do is to include your complaint in statistical reports. While this mightn't sound like much, if we can show that certain agencies are not performing, going by the number of complaints we receive, we can demand improvements — or, ultimately, the de-registration of an agency.

If I make a complaint and am identified, won't the agency refuse to help me?

That would make them look even worse! You can also demand that your case is taken over by the Adoption Board, removing the agency from the picture entirely. Also note that if you had been using the agency to pursue a trace, it is generally quite possible to trace for yourself, without agency involvement. Our tracing guides have helped hundreds of people to successfully trace and re-unite.

What sort of complaints have you already received?

Before launching this service, complaints we have received include:
  • Waiting lists of several years duration to even see a social worker
  • A lack of any information being given to the person making the enquiry
  • General inefficiency, e.g., taking weeks to acknowledge receipt of a letter, let alone reply
  • Insistence on face-to-face meetings with a social worker, even where the person making the enquiry lives abroad
  • Inaccurate or completely false information being given out
  • Breaches of confidentiality (e.g., agencies, in the course of attempting to find a natual parent,
  • Making contact with other members of the natural family and revealing that the person in question had placed a child for adoption. Which contradicts oft-stated policies of being unable to release information because of 'confidentiality agreements'!)
  • Lack of respect for the natural desire to trace (e.g., urging the enquirer not to trace as they will hurt the feelings of their adoptive parents, or disrupt the life of the natural mother, etc.)
  • Insistence on contacting the adoptive parents to ascertain their views, before tracing on behalf of a natural parent, when the 'child' being sought is now an adult, married, and has children of their own
  • Failure to put adopted people and natural parents in contact, even where both parties have been in contact with the agency to seek a reunion and many many more...

How can I make a complaint?

You should fill out the form below. To do this, you will need to copy the questions into either your e-mail program (preferred) or a word processor document, where you can print it out and post it to us.

Complaints can be sent to us by e-mail or by post. The e-mail address for the Complaints Service is complaints@adoptionireland.com. The postal address is: APA, Complaints Service, 14 Exchequer Street, Dublin 2.

We will be introducing an 'online complaint form' at a future date.

NB: If you have more than one complaint about an agency, you will need to submit two (or more!) complaints.

Complaint Form

Your details

Name:
Address:
Phone:
E-mail:
Your date of birth:
Gender:

Your 'category' (for this complaint):
[i.e., are you adopted person, natural mother, natural father, sibling, adoptive parent, or 'other'. Note also that you could fall into two categories over two different complaints - e.g., if you were adopted but also a natural mother]

State whether or not the APA can use your name/address: (yes/no)
[If you answer 'No', it may not be possible for the APA to take up your complaint unless it is of a very general nature. In either case, the APA will not take up your complaint without contacting you. The APA cannot guarantee to take up every complaint received and nor can we guarantee a successful outcome].

Your complaint

Name of agency with which you have a complaint:
Name of social/caseworker you are dealing with:
Nature of complaint:
[a *short* phrase describing the broad nature of your complaint, e.g.,
long waiting list, rudeness, wrong information given, etc.]
Details of complaint:
[please limit this to 255 characters including spaces]

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