A new independent investigation into Northern Ireland s mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries announced last week is expected to look at the trafficking of children across the border.
A research report found at least 10,640 women and girls entered mother and baby homes in Northern Ireland between 1922 and 1990, with 11pc of them being moved to the Republic.
The revelation has prompted questions over the legality of the cross-border adoptions of children.
The research confirms there is evidence that a number of children were moved from mother and baby homes in the North to others in the Republic and were then adopted there and in the United States and Britain.