John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The court appointed guardian ad litem of the child in question has submitted an application to have the mother's deportation order revoked to allow her to re-enter the State to be reunited her son. I understand this application is under consideration by Department officials.

It must be emphasised that the woman in question could at any point bring closure to this situation by accepting the repatriation of her son. To date, she has refused to facilitate this in Nigeria. I find it difficult to understand the position she has adopted. It would have to be assumed that she is hoping that while the child remains in this State, her chances of returning to, and remaining in, this State are enhanced.

The fact remains that she arrived in this State as an asylum seeker and had all of her protection-related needs considered in detail at all stages of the statutory process. It is difficult to credit how a person whose case has benefited from such detailed consideration could now hold the State's immigration laws in such contempt and, as such, the Minister does not share Deputy Shatter's view that the solution to the problem is to have her returned to this State. To do so would only serve to encourage many others to flout the system in similar fashion.

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