Ms Helen Lowry:

I imagine our director, Ms Edel McGinley, would also like to speak on this aspect. We have a common sense approach in the MCRI to the problems we encounter. We have been working with undocumented migrants from the outset and are, therefore, very aware of how people come undocumented. A lot of thought has been put into this including a lot of research in terms of the concept of a regularisation. We feel clear criteria would allay the public's fears but would also be manageable from a Department of Justice and Equality perspective. We have found increasingly that the people with whom we are speaking and working are here long term. They are making a contribution and working and many, though not all, are paying taxes. We are not talking about recent arrivals. A regularisation such as this, particularly one with a probationary period, allows an opportunity for the Department to administer the scheme. It is almost like a safety valve which will allow the scheme to be administered and for people in that period of time to abide by certain criteria. This is in the proposal also. We felt that four years was a fair period. Choices will have to be made, potentially, by the Minister for Justice and Equality and her Department on the further detail for the administration of the scheme. It is not a once-off amnesty as such because a probationary period is built in.