Mr. Enda O'Neill:

I thank the Senator. The refugee convention is very much part of the pact and has always been part of EU law. There are references to it in the treaties. One of the things we have tried to emphasise is that there is a focus on externalisation and political discussions around shifting the responsibility away from developed wealthy European states towards states that have far fewer resources. One of the reasons we are saying we support the pact, if adopted in an appropriate way, is because it seeks to ensure that people will have access to a particular territory, that they will be able to lodge an application for asylum and that they will able to access a procedure and get a decision on-----