Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for Justice and Equality, Deputy Stanton, for his presence here to address the challenges experienced by some migrant children. This matter was prompted by a particular local case, of which I know the Minister of State may be aware. However, many young people living in Ireland are struggling to regularise their immigration status in a system that appears to be extraordinarily difficult to navigate and idiosyncratic. Migrant children are one of the most vulnerable groups of children in Ireland making child migration an enormous challenge for us. We must fairly address the issue in the best interests of the welfare of the child. Currenlty immigration law lacks consistency and clarity. Lack of data is a block to proper planning and this should be gathered and published annually. We need clear and understandable guidelines for decision-making and we need to find an easy way for people who become trapped in irregular undocumented immigration situations to regularise their situation without fear, most especially if there are children involved.

Migrant children's interaction with the immigration system is not addressed in a coherent way. Our laws lack transparency and clarity leaving children largely invisible in our immigration system. Their specific rights and needs are not given adequate consideration. International law requires that all children including children, accompanied by parents or other legal guardians, must be treated as individual rights holders, their child-specific needs considered equally and individually and that their views are appropriately heard.

I do not need to remind the Minister of State that Ireland has obligations under international human rights law, EU law and the EU Convention on Human Rights to respect children's rights. Furthermore a right to a family life is a fundamental aspect of EU law, international human rights law and Irish constitutional law. In January 2016 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child examined Ireland's compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It recommended that Ireland adopt a legal framework to address the needs of migrant children.

The Immigrant Council of Ireland undertook to document what those needs were and how the absence of a framework for legal migration impacted on children and young people's lives and Child Migration Matters was published in December 2016. I know the Minister of State is well aware of that. This featured 32 case studies and interviews with the 150 plus professionals working with children and young people from a migrant background. It is a comprehensive snapshot of the multiple challenges facing immigrant children and young people and concerning the lack of information, guidance and clear criteria when it comes to the immigration status of these young people. The sheer volume of calls to their helpline and the cases relating to children and young people inspired the research. I know that the Immigrant Council has been calling on the Department to streamline the process for young people and for a centralised single agency with expertise to be established, which can provide clear and comprehensive guidance to young people, their families and those working with them to ensure that they know exactly what is required to regularise their status.

A person's immigration status can define and determine the life path. It is central to their access to employment, education and social services and yet there has been little policy analysis here or dissemination of information to ensure that children have a recognised, appropriate immigration status and that they can apply for naturalisation when they have fulfilled specific criteria. I am thinking of children who have come here as babies or at one or two years of age who consider themselves Irish, who have gone through our education system and are now facing deportation. It is incumbent on us to figure out some method for providing an amnesty for children and young people in that position. The Irish immigration system does not allow a child younger than 16 to hold immigration status on an individual basis. It assumes that the immigration permission of such a child be that of their parent. Therefore the immigration status of a child lacks clarity and consistency which can result in practical difficulties for children.

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