37.— (1) A person habitually resident in the State, or a married couple married to each other, each of whom is habitually resident in the State, may apply to the F32 [ Child and Family Agency ] for—

( a) an assessment of eligibility and suitability in relation to himself, herself or themselves, and

( b) the issuance by the Authority of a declaration of eligibility and suitability in accordance with that assessment.

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall—

( a) be made in writing addressed to an office of the F32 [ Child and Family Agency ],

( b) be made in conjunction with a separate application under this Act by the applicants for an adoption order or the recognition of an intercountry adoption including in the circumstances discussed in section 81 , and

( c) specify which state is the habitual residence of the child the applicants propose to adopt under their separate application referred to in paragraph (b) .

(3) As soon as practicable after the F32 [ Child and Family Agency ] receives an application under subsection (1), the F32 [ Child and Family Agency ] shall take the following steps concerning the adoption proposed under the separate application referred to in subsection (2)(b) or arrange for the steps to be taken by an accredited body:

( a) providing information, advice and counselling to the applicants;

( b) carrying out an assessment of eligibility and suitability in relation to the applicants;

( c) preparing an assessment report that conforms to paragraph (1) of Article 15 (which relates to reports by Central Authorities of receiving states) and that includes—

(i) the information described in Article 15, and

(ii) a finding as to the eligibility and suitability of the applicants.

(4) As soon as practicable after preparing the assessment report referred to in subsection (3)(c), the F32 [ Child and Family Agency ] shall refer the report to an adoption committee for the latter’s recommendation to the Authority under section 39(1) .