Mr. Nick Henderson:

I agree. I would not describe what is laid out in the Bill as an appeal mechanism. For something to be an appeal, we submit it would be an appeal to the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, which is a statutory body created by the International Protection Act. That Act would probably have to be amended to allow for appeals against a refusal of a family reunification decision. The Bill does not do that, though. All it really does is create an internal review within the Department of Justice and Equality, one that goes up the tree to a grade senior to the grade of the person who made the decision. An official would only have to be one step more senior than the person who made the decision to consider the review. This is consistent with changes that were brought about by the statutory instrument that was created last July to transpose the reception conditions directive into Irish law. That instrument creates an internal review mechanism for decisions around someone's reception conditions. The Bill's provision is similar in nature.

Legal aid is beyond the scope of this Bill but from our experience - I am sure it is the same with our colleagues in Nasc Ireland - it is essential that people get good legal advice at all stages of the asylum procedure. If they do not, they may not ventilate a point that should be made or bring forward evidence that they have. It can work inversely, in that someone may be pursuing an application he or she should not be because there is a remedy elsewhere. Legal aid helps people to rehearse and corral their evidence. As such, I agree with the points made.