Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

If someone came to Ireland and said he thought he would be stoned under Sharia law and gave his address as northern Nigeria to give credence to that and it turns out that he is the father of two Irish children who are now at the local national school, of course we must be reasonable and say that might not have been true but at we must find out who he is and he must engage with the process, tell us he was born in southern Nigeria and provide evidence of who he is. We are not going to continue just to save face for a person. If the humanitarian issue is whether two children who are at school in Ireland should go back to Nigeria, the least the parent can do is be truthful and say where he is from and what are the true circumstances.