Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 April 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

EU Regulations and Directive on International Protection, Asylum and Migration: Discussion (Resumed)

Ms Fiona Hurley:

I have a quick point on the resourcing. Someone has already spoken about legal aid and the cost of counselling and additional resources needed for that, but there are additional resources needed for things like unaccompanied minors who need to have temporary representatives appointed and potentially longer-term representatives appointed. There is also a need for medical professionals or other professionals who can assess special procedural or reception needs. At the moment we are falling down in regard to both of those things. There are additional resources outside things that might immediately come to mind, like additional people in the IPO to deal with applications, and in legal aid there are also additional-----