Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

It is clear we have a problem with immigration. That there is also a problem with maternity services in Dublin is quite evident to anyone who has attended these hospitals in recent times. Are we correctly addressingthese problems through this constitutional amendment?

It was interesting to hear on radio this morning discussions involving representatives from the hospitals and asylum seekers. It is hard to know what is the central problem the Government wants to deal with. It seemed at first that the main problem was with the maternity hospitals, but then the position of the Government changed so that the problem was our relationship with Northern Ireland and considerations of open access to citizenship of EU member states.

One of the reasons for the problem in our maternity hospitals is the nature of our asylum system, which we desperately need to change. We are sending people throughout the country during what is quite a lengthy and delayed process. We leave people without the ability to work and with minuscule financial resources that would not keep a TD in expenses for a couple of hours, let alone a full week, yet we expect them to maintain their health and psychological well-being. There is a clause which provides that an asylum seeker who is 32 weeks pregnant is free to avail of the social welfare service, which is a change of circumstances. Part of the problem being experienced in Dublin hospitals is that asylum seekers from other parts of the country availing of social welfare provisions come to Dublin hospitals to have their children. There is a community of which people naturally want to be part.

If we have a problem, let us define what it is. One of the first problems is the way in which we manage our asylum seeking process. While their cases are being decided we should give asylum seekers the right to work so they can keep their health and sanity. We should not de-humanise people as they wait for years on our pittance of a hand-out.

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