The family of an Irish teenager being held in an Egyptian jail are calling on the Government to take urgent action to secure his release.
Ibrahim Halawa from Dublin has been in custody in Cairo for 10 months, after being arrested along with three of his sisters during a protest last August.
The 18-year-old's family are accusing the Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore of not doing enough to have him freed from prison.
Our News Correspondent Fergal O'Brien reports:The Department of Foreign Affairs is rejecting that it isn't working to secure the release of Ibrahim Halawa.
In a statement to Today FM, the Department says it has provided extensive consular assistance and political support to the Halawa family in both Ireland and Egypt.
However it says it has to respect the due process and laws and customs of another country.
The Department of Foreign Affair also says consular officials have visited the 18-year-old in jail on at least 17 occasions.
The Minister for European Affairs says Paschal Donohue met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy in Athens last week, where he raised the matter on the margins of an EU/League of Arab States Ministerial meeting.
