Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Nobody in this House could not be moved by the horrendous sight of the bodies of dead asylum seekers on the beaches. That so many have been sacrificed, even on the high seas, by unscrupulous human traffickers is a blight on the face of humanity. Men, women and children are being sacrificed by evil traffickers of human beings. Some of those trafficked find security in whatever land they arrive at. They are essentially searching for a better life.

In talking of refugees, I compliment successive Irish Governments on how professionally we handle what we call the programme refugees, namely, those from Bosnia and various other countries. Programme refugees are the genuine refugees who are being facilitated through the United Nations and relocated in various countries. We do a brilliant job on their behalf. The same cannot be said about our approach to those in direct provision. I have experience of direct provision. I stayed a night in New Ross and saw the terrible problems that arose, including those of single men having to share their rooms with another person of a different nationality, and perhaps of a different religion. We saw the difficulties associated with the dietary demands of the diverse groups in the centre. This creates nothing but tension and distrust. As people have rightly said, an element of mental illness sets in.

It is absolutely unacceptable that anybody could spend two, four, seven or eight years incarcerated in a direct provision building. What the hell is happening? Why can today's system not result in a decision in a period of less than seven to eight years? Why would anybody's case require processing over a two-year period? It is unbelievable. The Minister must ask whether the legal process is the problem. Is there an indefinite conclusion to the legal processes people can avail of?

It might be controversial to say this, but I believe it might be more humane for the State, rather than incarcerate a person for four, five, six, seven or eight years in a direct provision hostel, to make a decision quickly to facilitate or deport the person. There is nothing as horrendous as sitting out one's time in one of these hostels, wondering whether one's application for asylum will be accepted at the end of that time. Imagine being deported after seven or eight years. We should compare our system with what happens internationally. Surely, there are other systems throughout the world that are superior to ours. I appeal to the Minister of State to try to learn from our counterparts.

There are good and bad stories to be told on this issue. I am dealing with the case of a young Nigerian girl of 17 years of age, who notwithstanding the fact she is the care of the local health board, being an unaccompanied minor who had a horrendous childhood, achieved the highest marks in her school in her leaving certificate. The problem she now faces is that she has been accepted for the business, economics and social studies, BESS course in Trinity College, but because she will be 18 in December, she will be moved into direct provision God knows where. That is not a humane way to approach the issue of kids who have overcome such terrible difficulties. Ireland is her home and we must change the rules that could send her anywhere.

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