Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on it very clearly. I do not think it is fair or right and I want to fix it. My views on this are clear. I know one of the students the Deputy speaks of. It is the well-known case of Eric, the boy from Bray who some Department official thought it was a good idea to send him back of China. Eric had never been to China. He is as Irish as the rest of us but he was caught in this legal limbo situation. I agree with the Deputy that we need to address that as a country.

What I did almost immediately on taking office was to make changes to the student support scheme for asylum seekers, changes the Irish Refugee Council had sought for years and that have been welcomed. Do I believe that is the end of the matter? No. Do I believe we need to do more? Yes. How do I intend to go about that? My Department will feed into the development of the White Paper on international protection that the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, will lead on and which will be published by the end of the year.

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