The Minister for Justice Mr McDowell has said this morning's supreme court ruling has vindicated the Government's stance on the issue of non-national parents.
"We have to consider carefully what we do about the issues, which are delicate issues in which people's rights are at issue.
"I have to consider what our response will be, to bring a memorandum to Government as to how we deal with the situation now that it's been clarified at long last.
"And in the fullness of time we will come forward with proposals which will fully respect people's constitutional rights."
The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) has expressed its disappointment at a Supreme Court decision, which that could see thousands of non-national parents of Irish-born children deported.
IRC Policy Officer Mr James Stapleton said: "This is a bigger issue that just the rights of non-national parents. This ruling creates two sets of citizens within Ireland. It will create division".
A spokesman for the Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL) said the Council was dissappointed and said the ruling raised issues which the Government needed to clarify. "This ruling only applies to two specific cases, it is very unclear how it may apply to other cases," he said. He added that a large category of people withdrew from the asylum process, opting for attempting to gain residency. The spokesman asked if these people would now be allowed back into the asylum process.
The Labour Party's spokesperson on Justice Mr Joe Costello said the decision should not be used by the Government "as an excuse to initiate any campaign of mass deportations".
He said: "[it] emphasises once again the absence of any coherent policy from the Government for dealing with the issues of immigration and asylum.
"The Government seems content to allow the courts to make the difficult decisions in this area and there is still no sign of the long-promised legislation to update the law on immigration, residence and other matters relating to non-nationals," he said.
The Green Party has called for an amnesty to allow the parents of Irish-born children to remain in Ireland.
"The rights of children must be upheld," said the party's justice spokesperson Mr Ciarán Cuffe. "We believe that the parents of children should have a right to permanent residency in the State. This would be in the best interest of the children."
Fine Gael spokesperson Mr John Deasy said the judgment would "discourage individuals who might be considering coming to Ireland to have children merely to obtain residency here."
But he said it will raise many questions which the Government must address. "what will happen to the thousands of outstanding applications for residency? What will happen if parents being deported decide not to bring their children with them?", Mr Deasy asked.
