Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated that, unlike other countries, Ireland does not detain asylum seekers. How does one describe a system in which people are not allowed to work or to have visitors and must eat and be at home at set times other than as a form of detention?

The Minister has said people are provided with accommodation and care. What would she call the treatment of a pregnant asylum seeker over the summer? It was hardly a great example of the State's care when she sought an abortion at eight weeks and was prevented from accessing that which was allowed for other women in the State, should they choose to leave the country availing of their constitutional right to travel or have an abortion under the legislation over which the Minister stood. The Government did not safeguard the girl's health and does not safeguard the health of asylum seekers, as has been recognised by all of the groups involved. The list included complaints about the length of time spent waiting, the unnecessarily restrictive rules for things such as food and the fact that there was no independent complaints commission. My alternative would be to allow people to live in a normal environment while they await the granting of asylum, as happened in the 1980s and 1990s and at other times.

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