Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is Option B agreed? Agreed.

No. P00043/23 is a request for a meeting on the bilateral agreement between the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Egyptian Government officials regarding child abduction. The petitioner is Ms Mandy Kelly. This petition is a request by an Irish mother to have a meeting between the Department of Foreign Affairs officials and Egyptian Ministry officials regarding a proposed bilateral agreement on child abduction cases.

The request involves a case of two young innocent Irish boys being held in Egypt unlawfully by their father. An Irish High Court order was issued in December 2022 for their immediate return to Ireland. The father, an Egyptian national who resided in Ireland from June 2017 to March 2022, also attended proceedings, hence recognising the jurisdiction of the Irish courts. According to the petitioner, she has exhausted all options to date in securing the return of her children, the most recent event being a mediation meeting between the Chair of the good intentions committee supposedly set up by the ministry of justice in Egypt to assist where child kidnapping occurred.

There are three recommendations. The secretariat should forward the response from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice to the petitioner, as soon as it is received, if appropriate, for comment within 14 days. The second is to request legal advice from the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA. Third, depending on the advice from the OPLA, is to consider inviting the petitioner to appear before the committee in the New Year.