Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This question is for either Mr O'Neill or Ms Hennessy. It relates to the 1951 convention in the context of non-refoulement and the EU pact. The information provided by the witnesses does not go into how the pact interplays with previous conventions in the context of eroding some of the protections and core principles within those conventions. Will the witnesses comment on what assessment or analysis they have carried out on pact in the context of the watering down or dilution of the very core principles within the previous UN conventions?

I am not sure who might want to answer my second question. It relates to mass surveillance. We keep skipping past the use of technology, fingerprinting and facial recognition as if that is some sort of protection for the State when what is involved is a mass gathering of information and surveillance of vulnerable people. I do not think that it should be put forward as a necessarily positive thing to protect us in the context of what will happen to that data. For example, all children will be subject to fingerprinting and to their data being kept on a system before they are even old enough to make decisions about what countries they are brought to for refuge. They will be profiled at a young age. Do any of the witnesses want to comment on the impact on civil liberties and privacy and on the potential impact this will have on minors, particularly in the context of their future lives being mapped out at such a young age on the basis of mass surveillance?