Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I concur with Deputy Eric Byrne's comments on being caught in the middle. We discussed this issue when the Tánaiste attended our meeting last week. He also expressed his concern about this particular case.

I accept that Senator Walsh needs to come back a little bit and I believe that Deputy Durkan needs to come forward a little bit. It is reprehensible that any issue of adoption should have been brought to the committee's attention. I cannot believe that vulnerable children are players in any circumstances. I have the recommendations from the European Union to the Council which call on Russia to conduct a credible and independent investigation encompassing all aspects of this tragic case, to bring all those responsible to justice, and in the meantime, perhaps the financial assets of anybody implicated at present could be frozen. That puts the onus on the Russian authorities to deal with this issue of human rights.