Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome my big brother, Matthew, to the House. He is the one who indulged my interest in politics, brought me to cumann meetings, comhairle Dáil ceantair meetings and other Fianna Fáil meetings all over the country. I would not be here today without him. I also welcome my other guests, Gerry O'Callaghan, Peter Paul McShane and Jimmy Hanlon. They are fantastic representatives from County Louth with us here today.

I want to raise an issue concerning Mandy Kelly, a Dundalk-based mammy whose children Zayn and Kareem were abducted two years ago by her Egyptian husband while on holiday. These boys are Irish citizens. They are being held against their mother's will and against the judgment of the Irish courts. We are currently at a standstill. I cannot even imagine the torture this woman is going through. She has not even seen photographs of her young boys, who are growing up without her.

I want to highlight this case today, but also to highlight that we need the Irish Government to intervene and put pressure on the Egyptian ambassador and the Egyptian authorities to release those Irish citizens and bring them home. We have a history of diplomacy and working to get Irish citizens back home to this country, and it should be no different in the case of two abducted young boys who are growing up without their mammy. I would love if the Minister, Deputy McEntee, could meet with this mother and discuss the possibility of securing an international arrest warrant and getting those children home safely.