Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Maybe I should raise this in respect of the Courts Service, but a complaint was recently made to me about the number of judges available. I do not know whether that matter falls under judges' pay or the Courts Service. I am aware of a person who has a terminal cancer diagnosis and wanted to put their affairs in order. They asked for the earliest possible date to hear their case and this week or last was given a date of July next year. The reason for this is apparently due to a shortage of judges. Some very good judges were appointed during the summer and early autumn, but it is not good enough that the earliest High Court list to finalise a case for somebody when people are ready to go is July of next year, which might be too late. Can more judges be appointed if that is what needs to happen?

On international protection and immigration programmes, we would be remiss if we did not mention the people who died in a boat in the channel last week.

There are people who want to say this all the work of criminal gangs luring people into boats. That is complete rubbish in my view. Appropriately at this time of year, these are Middle Eastern families - men, women, some of whom are pregnant, and children - who are putting their lives at risk in freezing cold conditions in what are probably the busiest shipping lanes in the world. They are risking their lives crossing the channel to try to seek asylum in the UK. If they get as far as Britain, most of them will be entitled to asylum because of the regimes from which they have fled. The Dublin Protocol is in place. It should be reviewed.

Can we step in as a country and make some sort of an offer to take some of them, because it is literally a life-and-death situation? Can we get safe passage to some of them to bring them in, like the Syrian programme? It could be a few people per constituency. Wealthy nations in the West, and we are one, have an obligation to try to do something about it. It is unacceptable in this day for us to sit back and not do anything about tragedies such as this when we are in a position to try to do something about them. The numbers getting in and claiming asylum, not only in Britain but also here, is greatly down on what it was maybe 20 years ago. There should be some room for us to make some sort of a gesture with this type of programme. I see spending is down. There is more money available. Can we do something to prevent this type of tragedy from reoccurring?