Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Tánaiste for informing the House that there has been some contact by the embassy. In earlier written questions on this matter the possibility of any engagement on behalf of the family seemed to have been ruled out. I have a serious concern about this case. The young man in question is an Albanian citizen who is married to a young teacher from County Carlow. In the past, we have been able to highlight the obvious injustices to Irish-trained doctors in Bahrain, so we should also be able to reflect concern about this particular case.

Mark and Andreas Marku are two young Albanian brothers who have been wrongly condemned by failures in the Cretan justice system to 18 years' imprisonment. Their nightmare began in September 2010 and they have spent the past 18 months incarcerated in Neapoli Prison in Crete. In January this year, they were convicted of ten armed robberies, the theft of 12 cars and of being members of an armed criminal gang. My information is that Mark Marku was in Ireland in the company of his wife when a number of these crimes were supposed to have transpired.

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