Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State contradicts himself in regard to self-identification. First, he said that if a minor gives a date of birth that shows they are a minor, subsection (2) automatically kicks in and Tusla will be informed. He then said the reason he is not accepting this amendment is in order to stop people declaring themselves as minors falsely to try to subvert the system. What is to stop somebody who is not a minor giving a date of birth that shows them to be a minor if the first system kicks in anyway? It does not make sense.

This brings us to the heart of the unfortunate assumption in the system that everybody who is coming here is trying to scam the system or get something they are not entitled to. That is the not the presumption that should be within the Bill, which should be about how we meet our international standards in order to protect people who need protection. We should not throw out a whole system because some people might try to abuse it. If we did that, we would not have a social welfare system in this State. Unfortunately, I believe the underlying assumption throughout the Bill is that these people are really coming here to scam the system and to get something they are not entitled to. The presumption should be that these are people in need of international protection and that we have an obligation, as a State, to offer them protection. That is different from the way this has been pitched in the debate.

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