Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend and endorse the Taoiseach's comments regarding the two injured prison officers and extend best wishes to them and their families. I cannot help wondering if the absence of armed Garda officers on this occasion was due to Government cuts. I do not know if that is the case.

I have a couple of questions in regard to the International Protection Bill, the report of the McMahon working group and the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill. The Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions) Bill 2012 allows sentences of 12 months or less for certain types of offences to be spent. The Bill was published in May 2012 and has been awaiting Report Stage since November 2013, the reason for which we are told is because the Department is awaiting a British Court of Appeal decision. As I understand it, that decision was given two years ago. This legislation is a step in the right direction in supporting the reintegration of ex-offenders into society. When will Report Stage of that Bill be taken?

Last Friday, along with other colleagues of the Oireachtas, I again visited the Mosney direct provision centre. Does the Taoiseach have a firm date for publication of the International Protection Bill? The two issues that again emerged from the visit to the Mosney centre are that parents continue to be denied child benefit and women who come from a culture in which it is forbidden that they be treated by a male GP are being denied their right to access to a female GP. Also, those who are sick, even though they receive only €19.10 per week, have to pay €2.50 for each prescription item. Some of the women concerned have children who were born in and have lived all their lives in semi-captivity in this direct provision centre, without any status whatsoever. When will the McMahon report be published, and when published will its content be debated in the Dáil?

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