Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's response and I appreciate we are taking other refugees from Lebanon, but this is a particular case. This is a family of seven in which four of the children have very significant disabilities. They had previously lived in Saudi Arabia, but Saudi Arabia expelled them because of its "no Palestinian refugees" policy, which is not a very nice policy. They were subsequently expelled, despite their pleas, from Egypt after two of the children had completed their education but Egypt was not willing to take them either. They are now stranded in Turkey, where they are suffering very significant physical health deterioration and very severe muscle spasms because they are not getting the physiotherapy they need.

They have written to the Minister and they have contacted the UNHCR. They are making a special plea that they be accepted here. I know, notwithstanding what the Minister said, that Ireland has not filled its full quota of refugees. It seems to me that in the case of this particularly vulnerable family, we could intervene and indicate to the UNHCR that we would be willing to take them.

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