Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Members have raised an interesting range of subjects. As the witnesses can probably ascertain, members are familiar with the subject matter and Mr. Clerking, Mr. Murray and Ms Fleming are well known to us.

Several members raised the issue of health and development workers going abroad in the current environment. They face considerable risks and are making a huge sacrifice but they remain dedicated to their tasks. We should consider the degree to which we can learn from their experiences, and how they can learn from our experiences. I commend those people, including the witnesses, who have made a massive contribution to dealing with ebola and other challenges.

In regard to the health of immigrants and the reason there are more women than men here, this is self-evidently due to health and safety concerns, including traditional practices in certain countries which appear barbaric to us. An issue also arises in regard to the mistreatment of young women and girls. I note the ongoing situation in Nigeria. Even though that country is geographically distant from us, these issues arrive at our doors in various shapes and forms.

A third group of migrants who were not mentioned came here a number of years ago either as visitors or on stamp one or two clearance. During the economic boom they had full access to employment, some legally and others without authorisation. They now present serious problems for themselves and for us as a country in terms of dealing with their situations. It is difficult to deal with them because of their lack of documentation and status in many cases. This is something we have to attend to. Once a girl or a women with a child is in that situation, health is the last issue to be addressed because the more pressing issue is feeding the family.

We have all dealt with direct provision in Monaghan and the other centres all over the country. One of the issues that worries us is the fact that the undocumented people have no status and have very pressing health requirements which are obvious even to a non-medical person. We need to consider this and would be interested in the witnesses' comments on the issues they raised and those the members raised, based on their one-to-one dealings with people who have come here for whatever purpose. Direct provision is not ideal and although it is supposed to be temporary, in some cases it has dragged on for years. In some cases there is a clear explanation while in others it is not so readily explained. We must remember that the health and welfare of a person who is in the country, whether legally or illegally, has implications for our society, the health of our society and our need to be alert to the kind of situation that can emerge very quickly and tragically in some cases.