Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 29 May 2025

Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration

Readmission Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Kazakhstan: Discussion

2:00 am

Photo of Mark WardMark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I wish the Minister all the best in his new role. He outlined his experience on the justice committee. I was a member of that committee briefly in the last Dáil and I was on a number of committees before that. This is the very first time I have ever been on a committee where we have been asked to make a decision on something that we do not have all the information on. I do not know if that is standard procedure. I find it bizarre and very odd. We received a one-page briefing document that is not for public consumption. We cannot give that out to the public. Article 2 states the negotiation directives are set out in the annexe in this decision. These negotiation directives in the annexe have been withheld from members. I find it bizarre that we are being asked to make a decision on something that we have yet to see the full content of. Did the Minister say these directives had not been fully negotiated yet? Is that correct?