Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What we have here in section 49(3) already mandates me to have due regard for humanitarian considerations when making a decision, whether it is on an international protection applicant and whether they should be granted permission to remain, in that regard. Obviously, if somebody if a victim of human trafficking, it would fall under that consideration. The concern here is that by being specific it would actually identify one particular group of people as potentially being more vulnerable or desirable under that grouping whereas the wording as it is set out already allows for each individual case to be taken into consideration and assessed under humanitarian grounds without specifying one group. I do not believe the amendment is necessary because that would fall under the wording as set out and potentially leads to one particular group being singled out as needing greater support than others, acknowledging, obviously, that we are talking about a very vulnerable group of people. Significant different groups of vulnerable people would fall under the same particular heading.