John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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When Mr. Waters says something like that to me, I think about the people who are actually genuine refugees who deserve attention and accommodation and deserve to have governments look at them differently. Frankly, what we are dealing with here seems to be people who are applying for refugee status spuriously in many cases. That seems to have been a hallmark of our system down through the years, bearing in mind the rates Mr. Waters just cited. He mentioned that the number of genuine refugees is increasing. It is reflected in the refugee status granting rates. However, the question arises as to how effective the system will be outside the fast-tracking process. Consider how much money we spend in this area and where it needs to be allocated. When there is an increase to 3,800 from 900, which was the number a couple of years ago, we have a problem. The problem is that the money is not going where it should be.