Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his reply.

While he says that things have moved on a bit, it is still not enough for this family and other families affected by situations in countries that are not party to The Hague Convention, including Egypt, Japan and so on. Surely the Government and this State has a responsibility to put in place protocols and systems to assist these families. The Tánaiste said that the family has been contacted by the consular. A one-line letter from the Department is not good enough. A call to the family to say the matter will be raised by the Minister at the international convention with no follow-up in that regard is not good enough for this family. Four years on, this is not good enough for this or other families.

The Egyptian authorities are well aware of this issue. The family has met six times in the past four years with the Egyptian ambassador in Ireland. On the last occasion, they met with the Egyptian ambassador he told them to take legal action in Egypt. This is not good enough. The Government needs to look at what instruments it can use to put pressure on the countries concerned to sign up to The Hague Convention or put in place bilateral agreements in respect of children who are abducted. It is possible to impose diplomatic and trade sanctions on countries which fail to provide for the safe return of children who have been illegally kidnapped from their countries. A serious approach to this issue must be taken. I want a commitment from the Tánaiste that Ireland, with other countries, will seek to have the sanctions I have mentioned imposed on Egypt if it fails to sign up to a bilateral agreement.

Four years, two weeks or a further three months is too long. This issue must be seriously addressed from now on.

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