Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has welcomed today's High Court decision ordering a Wicklow man and his wife to make maintenance payments to four-year-old Indonesian child Tristan Dowse.
Tristan is to receive monthly payments from Joe Dowse and his Azerbaijan-born wife, Lala, as well as compensation of €45,000, the High Court ruled.
Tristan was adopted by the couple in 2001 at the age of two months, but they returned the boy to an orphanage in Jakarta two years later on the grounds that the adoption was not
In a statement, Mr Ahern said the ruling would "ensure that Tristan's future is protected".
He added: "We set out to do everything possible to secure the protection and welfare of Tristan, an Irish citizen. We are confident that today's judgment will, and that it underlines the commitment of the Government and the Irish State to securing the constitutional rights of children."
Minister of State with special responsibility for Children Brian Lenihan said Tristan's future would be protected as a result of the ruling.
An important precedent had been established by the judgment, he added. "The Irish State and court system has demonstrated that it will take all necessary steps and has ample powers to ensure that Irish citizens who adopt in other jurisdictions must meet their obligations," Mr Lenihan said.
Fine Gael spokesman on foreign affairs Bernard Allen also welcomed the decision, which he said "should put an end to any legal uncertainties surrounding the status of Tristan Dowse".
"I warmly welcome the decision of the Court to vindicate Tristan's Irish citizenship, preserve his inheritance rights and ensure that financial provision is made for him up to the age of 18.
"People in Ireland were horrified at the situation in which this young child found himself. I hope that Tristan Dowse will benefit immediately from the provisions that the Court has ruled must be made for him."