Ms Salome Mbugua:

When we talk about services it is difficult to place everything on the Department of Justice and Equality, although it makes most of the decisions concerning immigrants. It is important to mainstream services, as Mr. Heylin said, so they can deal with people who have come from war-torn countries or have experienced gender-based violence. It is equally important that the services are competent and understand the culture of immigrants and what they have gone through.

Akidwa has been calling for services in Ireland to be culturally appropriate and competent. People have to understand the cultures involved. Ireland is new to immigration issues so such services should be mainstreamed, rather than having specific services for different groups. One Department alone should not be left with so much to carry.

The role of the Department of Education and Skills is important, especially concerning female genital mutilation, FGM. To this end, we have been trying to access schools. For example, if a child has been taken out of this country for female genital mutilation to be carried out, when they come back to school and report it to the teacher that teacher may not understand because he or she has never heard about FGM. The same applies if a child is raped when visiting a war-torn country.

It is important to bring everybody together in order ultimately to achieve our goal. All the relevant services need to equip themselves and become competent in that regard.