John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

By way of responding, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, is keeping faith with the statement he made on the steps of Government Buildings that day and if the issue is one of reuniting the mother with the child, I may be able to explain that.

I preface my reply by reminding the House that the Minister dealt with this matter in some detail on 10 December 2009 when he responded to an oral parliamentary question from Deputy Shatter on the same matter. I am aware of the opinion piece Deputy Shatter wrote for The Irish Times in support of his case on the same subject. In that article, it would appear that Deputy Shatter largely ignored the facts of the case as they had been presented by the Minister in response to the earlier parliamentary question.

The case in question is that of a Nigerian woman who arrived in this State in August 2005 and claimed asylum at that time. Her son was born in this State just two days after her arrival here but, based on the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 2004, he is not an Irish citizen. The woman, two days after the birth, included her son in her asylum application meaning that any decision taken in her case applied equally to him. Arising from the refusal of the asylum application, she was notified, by letter dated 25 October 2005, that the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform proposed to make deportation orders in respect of herself and her son and she was invited to submit written representations setting out reasons deportation orders should not be made. Representations were submitted on her behalf at that time.

Following the consideration of her case under the relevant statutory provisions, deportation orders were signed in respect of mother and son on 23 November 2005 and notified to them by registered letter dated 29 November 2005. They failed to present to the Garda National Immigration Bureau, GNIB, as required, and were therefore classified as persons evading deportation. They continued to evade their deportation for more than three and a half years until, on 16 August 2009, mother and son were apprehended by officers of the GNIB at Dublin Airport. Following questioning by the immigration officer and checks on the relevant Garda database, they were identified as persons who were evading deportation.

At this point, the mother was arrested and detained and she was conveyed to the Women's Prison, Dóchas centre. As this prison had limited facilities for children, and in accordance with well established procedures, the woman in question was given the option of putting her son voluntarily into the care of the Health Service Executive, HSE. She refused to do so and as a result the arresting garda was left with no option but to execute his powers under section 12 of the Child Care Act 1991 to secure appropriate care for the child.

In accordance with HSE procedures, that body sought and was granted an emergency care order on 17 August 2009, at which point the child was placed in the care of the HSE. An interim care order was subsequently granted on 24 August. 2009. The Deputy will appreciate that all aspects of the case relating to the child's care are the responsibility of the HSE, however, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has no evidence to suggest that the welfare needs of this child have not been or are not being met.

Given that the woman in question and her son were the subject of valid deportation orders, arrangements were made to have them both repatriated to Nigeria by chartered flight on 1 September 2009. On this date an application was made by the HSE to have the interim care order lifted to allow the child to accompany his mother to Nigeria. The application was refused by the District Court and the child remained in the care of the HSE. As a result, the woman in question was repatriated without her son.

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