There have been at least five other cases in the last year of children being taken from their families on spurious grounds in addition to the two Roma children this week.  

Gareth Noble, a solicitor specialising in juvenile justice issues, said in the past year he had encountered five cases where children were returned to their parents soon after gardai had taken them into HSE care.

These included cases where parents didn’t turn up when their child was appearing at a juvenile court, The Irish Independent reports.

Mr Noble described child protection law as “very subjective” and the threshold for “reasonable grounds” as very low.

However, he said the system had checks and balances and required the involvement of the HSE and the courts before a care order was issued.

“I am comforted by the fact that in this type of case, although it is time limited, there is a triple-lock mechanism in that it requires the gardai, the HSE and the court all to act,” he said.The two cases in the spotlight this week involved Roma children who were removed from their parents because they did not look like them. They were returned when it was proven that they did belong to them.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said he would be ordering a report into the garda action in both cases.

The inquiry will look into why the Roma children – a seven-year-old girl from Tallaght, Co Dublin, who can not be identified and Iancu Muntean (2) from Athlone, Co Westmeath – were taken from their natural parents, amid unfounded concerns that the children had been abducted.

The incidents played out in front of international television cameras when the story of the Roma girl from Tallaght being taken into state care by gardai was leaked to the media.

In both cases, the two young children, who were noticed because of their blond hair and blue eyes, are back with their families.

The Tallaght couple said their little girl had not eaten for three days because she was so upset.

In Athlone, the parents of Iancu Muntean (2) spoke of their trauma after he had been removed by gardai amid questions over his parentage. He, too, was returned to his parents yesterday.

Reacting to the cases Mr Shatter said: “It is important that no group or minority community is singled out for unwarranted attention, or, indeed, suspicion in relation to child-protection issues.”

The family of the seven-year-old from Tallaght are now considering legal action.

Mr Shatter told the Dail: “I think these matters are sufficiently serious to warrant being mentioned in this house.”

However, in a statement, he said that the gardai and HSE “have to deal with very difficult situations and have to make very difficult decisions when dealing with issues of child protection”.

Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald, however, stressed the need for the public to remain vigilant in reporting suspected child abductions.

She said: “Child protection is at the centre of any decisions that are taken, where gardai or social workers act in cases where children are taken into care. It’s always about child protection and the best interests of the child.”

False alarms are relatively common, according to child welfare workers, although no official statistics exist.

“Gardai sometimes make split-second decisions to remove a child from their home, honestly believing that child is at risk,” said one HSE source.

“But there have been a number of cases where, on further investigation, it turned out those fears were unfounded and the child was returned to its parents.”