Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy Durkan knows, I cannot speak to the details of the specific cases and he is not asking me to do so.

We had that very useful conference in terms of the best interests of the child principle. In particular, that was very relevant because the conference was about using that principle in the types of cases the Deputy is talking about. Tusla, my Department and the Ombudsman for Children were present, and it was a very good opportunity to get a common understanding and a better understanding of the approaches that need to be taken to vindicate the best interests of the child. Hopefully, as the Minister, Deputy McEntee, brings in her reforms as to where these cases take place but also the processes around them, we can start to better weave in the best interests principle in all court cases going forward.

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