The Minister for Health, Mr Martin, is to be asked by the South Eastern Health Board to clarify and to extend the age limit for adoptive parents.
Current age limits for both inter-country and domestic adoptions may be unconstitutional, according to former chairman of the Southern Health Board, Mr Michael Cahill.
"What age should one be to be a good parent?" he asked.
Prospective adoptive parents as young as 38 years were being ruled out for adoption, whereas couples often gave birth at 40 years and over, he said.
At present there are no age limits for inter-country adoptions, although a report commissioned in 1999 recommended a lower age limit of 25 years, and an upper age limit "of not more than 42 years" for the older of the applicants at the time of placement.
For domestic adoptions, the Adoption Board recommended agencies apply limits of 36 years.
St Anne's Adoption Society, which undertakes assessments for the SHB, considers applicants where the elder partner is not older than 38 years.
Legislation is being prepared and it is expected age limits will be introduced, Mr Tom O'Dwyer, programme manager with the health board, said at this month's meeting in Tralee, Co Kerry.
But Mr Cahill says the limits should be set at 45 at least. By the time couples are recommended for adoption they are often over the age limit, he says.
"I have come across so many couples who have to pull out of the process.
"And it's really hurtful and is a very sensitive issue."