There were just over 100 adoptions registered here last year.

The Adoption Authority's annual report shows it granted 72 domestic adoptions in 2018.

Of these, 35 were step-family adoptions.

There were also 41 inter-country adoptions made - with the majority, 20, being from Vietnam.

Other countries included Thailand (eight adoptions), the United States of America (seven), China (four) with Bulgaria and Russia (one each).

Source: Adoption Authority of Ireland

Overall, this was a 43% decrease in the number of children adopted from abroad over the past five years.

In Information and Tracing, last year the authority received 121 requests for birth certificate release, and granted the release of just 43.

It also processed 639 applications to the voluntary National Adoption Contact Preference Register (NACPR), and made 105 matches between adopted persons and birth relatives on the NACPR.

While the body also sent delegations to Haiti and the USA to review the adoption programmes in those countries.

Dublin also hosted a visit by a delegation from Vietnam's Department of Adoption-Ministry of Justice.