Family of Roma child to receive damages

The State is to compensate the parents of a two-year-old Roma boy wrongfully taken from them because of unfounded fears that he may have been abducted.

In a break with the usual Government response to civil suits, Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said she wanted to resolve the Athlone couple’s claim for damages amicably by way of a settlement. Their solicitor welcomed her remarks, saying this was also the family’s preference.

A second Roma couple, the parents of a seven-year-old girl removed from her home in Tallaght for the same reasons, are also expected to lodge a claim.