A court could only make a mandatory order to compel a public body to perform a public duty where it was under an obligation to do so and has either wrongfully refused to do so or delayed so egregiously that the delay is tantamount to a refusal.

The decision of the European Court of Justice conferred no right or entitlement on the applicant as a non-EU national father. The rights and protection conferred by Article 20 TFEU apply to the EU citizen only. It is only where the removal of the third country national or the refusal to grant the third country national parent a work permit will necessarily lead to the departure of the EU citizen child from the territory of the Union that Article 20 TFEU can be invoked by the EU citizen to require the relevant Member State to permit the parent to remain and to be employed.

If permission for a non-EU national parent to reside in the State was not renewed and a proposal to deport the person were to be made, that person’s entitlement to avoid deportation would depend not on the principles of Ruiz Zambrano but on the application of the principles protecting family life.