I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House in the near future for a debate on deportations. I am particularly concerned about reports on the threatened deportation of a nine year old boy in Bray. He was born in Ireland and he has spent his entire life here. He is in fourth class in St. Cronan's national school in Bray, but he faces imminent deportation to China. More than 30,000 people have signed a petition to argue against his deportation. A group of hundreds of Chinese parents in Ireland have asked the Minister not to deport this young boy on the basis that it would be wrong and that the Chinese educational system is so different from the Irish one. It would be difficult for a boy having been born in Ireland and lived all of his life here to be deported to China. It is particularly noteworthy that just last week it seems the Minister intervened in a case in his own constituency of Laois-Offaly to ensure another young boy was not deported to Nigeria. It is a sad day when campaigns against deportation seem to rely on the likelihood of having a Minister in the constituency. Having said that, the local Minister in Wicklow is appealing to the Minister for Justice and Equality against the deportation of young Eric Zhi Ying Xue in Bray.

The latest deportation should remind us of the referendum campaign that was run and supported by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in 2004, which removed the right to birthright citizenship from our laws. I was very proud of the strong stance taken by my own party, the Labour Party, against that referendum.

Hear, hear.

However, because the referendum was passed, young children like Eric and the young boy from Laois-Offaly are being threatened with deportation, despite the fact that they have lived all their lives in the country, have a huge network of friends and a community here and know no other place as their home. They also hold no other citizenship.

I appeal to the Leader to invite the Minister to the House. I will not call a vote on this matter during the Order of Business. However, we need a debate on deportation and, in particular, we need to address this apparent postcode lottery where certain children are at particular risk of deportation. I appeal to the Minister not to deport this young boy and his family from Ireland.

I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on funding for disability survivor groups. I ask this in the context of meeting a group called Justice for Polio Survivors earlier this week. The group has lost funding from the Rehab Group in recent years. The survivors are concerned about the de-recognition of the needs of polio survivors. There has been ongoing negotiation between the Rehab Group and the polio survivors. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on the broader issue of the need for funding for survivors, particularly for groups such as Justice for Polio Survivors.