Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I accept what the Deputy stated in regard to the implications of this. However, it is important to note that the appeals officer in making his decision dealt only with the legal arguments presented by both sides and did not set out a set of circumstances that should apply. Since his decisions on those cases, other decisions and refusals by appeals officers have been upheld. It does not follow that the decision he made is being applied to other cases. We are teasing through the legal implications and the knock-on effects on other cases. What was involved was child benefit but if the principle was established with regard to an asylum seeker then under certain circumstances with the habitual residence condition other schemes would be exposed also. This is why it is critical that we get the guidelines right.

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