Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The circumstances in which the Garda may intervene in a family situation and children may be removed for their own safety have already been established. The question that arises is what happened in this case. We must establish the facts. The intention is that those reports will be prepared over the next two to three weeks and will be given to the children's Ombudsman, who will liaise on them with the families. The dimension raised by Deputy Troy, namely, whether a group of people in our country are of a particular ethnic background or so on, clearly should not be given extra or special attention in child safety matters. I would be concerned if there was any element of that in these cases, but that is something that the report to be prepared must address.

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