The Eastern Health Board says it is implementing all the recommendations of a report by Barnardos into complaints about how it handles foreign adoption applications.
Barnardos investigated five complaints made to the EHB after it publicly invited people with grievances to contact it.
In one case, Barnardos found there had been a complete breakdown in the rela tionship between a social worker and the applicants and recommended the case be transferred to another social worker. In another case, it found a complete breakdown in trust and outlined a number of instances in which the social worker failed to implement normal procedures.
This included not inviting the couple to put their point of view to the placement committee on a point of disagreement.
It found in another case that a social worker had taken longer than average to complete assessments and had made more than the average number of visits.
In regard to a complaint from the International Adoption Association that a social worker made derogatory complaints to three couples, the report says the social worker accepted that the derogatory words complained of may have been used in one case.
Among the recommendations is one that the EHB should regularly meet bodies representing adoptive parents.
Mr Sean McHugh of Impact, which represents EHB social workers, welcomed the report. He would not deny there were some cases which were a cause of concern, he said, but the report showed that in the vast majority of cases, social workers acted professionally and sensitively.