Two members of the Dáil said the parents of Tristan Dowse should be charged with neglect and abandonment if they returned to Ireland.
Fine Gael foreign affairs spokesman Bernard Allen said it had now been conceded that the child was an Irish citizen, and he asked what was the attitude of the relevant authorities to the parents "in this appalling situation".
He added: "If they returned to Ireland, would they be charged with the neglect and abandonment of the child?"
Dublin South Green Party TD John Gormley said: "They should be. This is a disgrace."
Mr Allen remarked: "They should be, as this is an appalling situation."
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Noel Treacy said that last week, on the Minister's instructions, the Irish Ambassador to Singapore travelled to Jakarta to meet ministry officials and visit Tristan, who was found to be in good health and spirits.
Senior officials from the Irish Adoption Board and the Department of Foreign Affairs would travel to Indonesia in the coming days to assist the ambassador in helping to find a satisfactory solution to the matter.
Mr Treacy said that in all of its actions, the department's first priority was the welfare of the young boy.
"The child is an Indonesian and an Irish citizen," he added. "He is currently domiciled in an orphanage in Indonesia."
He said the boy had been adopted on foot of an Indonesian court order of August 10th, 2001, in favour of Mr and Mrs Joseph Dowse.
In April 2003, Mr and Mrs Dowse moved to Azerbaijan and gave Tristan into the care of an Indonesian couple who, in turn, placed the child in an orphanage. The Dowses had made some attempts to have Tristan's adoption in Indonesia annulled so that he could be readopted.
However, said Mr Treacy, none of their actions so far had been accepted by the Irish Adoption Board as sufficient.
Tristan's entry in the Registry of Foreign Adoptions might only be cancelled by an order of the High Court, he said.
"The focus of my department's effort has been to work with the Irish Adoption Board and with the Dowses to unblock the case," said Mr Treacy.
"The Dowses, who are Tristan's legal parents, must be involved in this process as they have both rights and responsibilities regarding his welfare and future.
"From April 2004 to the present, my department had been repeatedly asking them what steps they intend taking. These contacts have been made through their solicitors for most of the time, as they insisted on a formal legal channel of communication."
