THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE dealt with 147 new cases of suspected child abductions in 2012, figures released by the department have revealed.
The Central Authority for Child Abductions dealt with a total of 276 cases in 2012, 129 of which had been carried over from 2011.
New cases
The new cases for 2012 involved 192 children. 83 of the cases related to attempts to bring children out of the country while the remaining 64 cases dealt with children entering the State.
When broken down by country, the 147 new cases included the following:
Commenting on the figures, the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said that parental child abductions continued to be a “worrying problem”.
Believing that mediation between the parties involved remained the best way to resolve differences, the minister said that he would continue to improve the “measures available to families including through the Mediation Bill which is currently being drafted.”
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