The assurance came from Frances Fitzgerald, the children’s minister, after she had met with a group of adoptive parents who had raised concerns.

She specifically stated the fees charged by Arc Adoption were in accordance with international charges but said the agency had been asked to amend its structure.

“I informed the group that the Adoption Authority of Ireland is examining a number of issues related to accredited agencies, including whether the levels of fees being charged by Irish agencies conform to international norms,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

“While the AAI has indicated that the level of fees being charged by Arc Adoption is in line with international norms, it has asked the organisation to amend the fee payment schedule to produce a more balanced staged payments structure.”

Chief executive of Arc Adoption, Shane Downer, said he welcomed Ms Fitzgerald’s comments on the agency’s fees. “In fact, our fees are generally less than those charged by many agencies in other European countries,” he said.

Arc Adoption charge €16,650 to adopt from Bulgaria. About €2,750 of that is refunded after 30 months. Danish and Swedish agencies charge between €19,000 and €24,000.

None of the agencies currently accredited by the AAI are funded by the State. In the past, Helping Hands Adoption Mediation Agency received funding from the HSE and the National Lottery.

Ms Fitzgerald told the Dáil that up to 1,000 couples may wish to adopt in the next year, but the numbers of children available for inter-country adoption was now far lower.

“In the past, very high numbers of children from Russia and Ethiopia, in particular, were adopted into Ireland,” she said. “The position in respect of India, Russia, and Vietnam is changing, particularly as they are encouraging their own citizens to adopt children.

“This has led to a huge change in the context of the number of children from these countries who are available for adoption.”

Last summer, Ireland signed a new agreement to allow couples to resume adopting children from Vietnam. They are expected to be able to adopt by the end of the month. Ireland ceased adopting children from the country after it chose not to resume its bilateral agreement in May 2009 following concerns raised by in Unicef.

The US had suspended adoptions from Vietnam in 2008 after it un-covered evidence of baby selling and “baby farming”, and it is believed Ireland’s decision was influenced by similar concerns. Unicef and the US state department highlighted serious concerns recently about corrupt adoption practices in Ethiopia.