Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

As a former Minister of State with responsibility for children, the Minister is particularly well informed on issues regarding children's rights. However, what is at issue in this instance is not, in essence, the right of a child to an education, which is not in dispute, but the rights and obligations of parents permitted to come to Ireland as students. In other words, while a foreign national child is entitled to free education while in Ireland, this in no way implies a right for them or their parents to enter the State for that purpose. All sovereign states have the right to determine who should enter their territory and the conditions attaching to that entry and residence. That is a basic feature of immigration systems and immigration law.

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