Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

Is the Minister aware that it is the view of the HSE and the courts that the welfare of the child is not consistent with the child being returned to Nigeria? Is he also aware that the reason the child remains in this jurisdiction is that the District Court is required to regard the welfare of the child as the paramount consideration and to make orders in the best interests of the child? Is the Minister suggesting that because this child is not an Irish citizen, he is someone of lesser needs and lesser rights who deserves to be traumatised on foot of the misconduct of his mother?

As matters stand in respect of this tragic case, this child, who had never been separate from his mother during the first four years of his life, is being required by the courts to remain in this country. Will the Minister, for humanitarian reasons, allow family reunification and, in these circumstances and for the child's safety, allow the mother to return here?

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