Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)

I thank the Minister for his presentation . I assume I am one of the people he referenced as accusing him of lacking compassion when it comes to deportation flights. I do not think I personalised the matter. The decision that was made lacked compassion. I might just go into it, since the Minister referenced it.

The decision was in relation to the deportation of children. The Minister referred to the fact that the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner welcomed deportations as a necessary part of the asylum process. I do not think anyone disagrees with that. Does the Minister reckon that the Assistant High Commissioner would also reference the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNCRC, particularly in the area of deportations? Take, for example, the decision to deport five children, two of whom were two weeks away from concluding their primary school experience. That lacked compassion from the State. Again, I do not want to individualise it. Does the Minister regret that decision? Is it something he thinks might happen again? Other jurisdictions, such as Germany, have signed up to the same agreements but do not deport children during the school term. I would like to hear the Minister's views on this.