Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I want to restate the basic point that this man is on the sixth day of a hunger strike. Tomorrow is day seven of this hunger strike. The man's GP has expressed some serious concerns about the effect of this on him, particularly on his kidneys. He is not talking in terms of weeks but about the next number of days. I have requested that the Minister of State would contact the man directly or have a senior official in his Department do so. The Minister of State has not replied to that question and I ask that he do so. There are nearly 7,000 people in the direct provision system and more than 8,000 asylum seekers in the country as a whole. Many of them, like Nadim and Raminder, face the threat of violence or even death if they return to where they came from. Many, like these two men, worked and contributed to our society during the pandemic. I understand that the Minister of State's Department is currently preparing an amnesty scheme for undocumented workers. I welcome this, even though I fear that it may not go far enough.

I stand for the abolition of the direct provision system. The Minister of State is proposing no significant change in this system for a number of years. That is not acceptable. I put it to the Minister of State that, alongside the changes for undocumented workers, he needs to introduce a package for asylum seekers this side of Christmas. This is an urgent issue. There is significant frustration in these centres. The Government has, in a backhanded way, admitted that the system is not fair.

It is in the programme for Government that the system will be abolished before the Government's term ends. That is an admission that the system is not fair and has to change. The issue is there are hundreds and thousands of asylum seekers who are not prepared to wait for that. The frustration is shown in this instance and the Government must address it. Again the question to the Minister of State is: Are you prepared to act on this case? It is six days into a hunger strike. Tomorrow is day seven and the health issues are mounting up.

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