Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I wish to bring to the attention of the Taoiseach a worrying trend that has come to my attention and give one example of it.

It concerns a young man from the Indian subcontinent who travelled to the United Kingdom on a valid student visa issued by the UK Government. That visa allows him to work for ten hours a week only. He obviously hoped to work much more. He went to an agency in the UK which told him it could get him full employment permission in Ireland and arrange travel and a work permit. The agent took £1,500 sterling from him and retained his passport in order that he would pay an additional £1,000 when he started to work. It arranged his travel to Liverpool and from there a ferry to Belfast. He travelled from there to Dublin. He was given the Eircode and postal address of his employer. He turned up there to find it was the International Protection Office, IPO, in Dublin.

He obviously did not know that he was being sent to the IPO. He was one of five travelling in a similar way organised by the same agents on the same day. He knows of 30 more people sent to Ireland by that agency in the same way. He is now in Ireland. He is trying to get out of the asylum system and return to the United Kingdom. He does not have his passport.

It is clear that vulnerable people in a precarious position are being horribly exploited by bad actors. However, it is equally clear that our State is being exploited by those bad actors. While the Punch and Judy show the Government is engaging in with the UK authorities is all well and good, I want to know what the Taoiseach can do and what hope there is of international co-operation to resolve this. If I know anything of the underworld in which these agents, these people traffickers - let us call them what they are - operate, it is that it if there is one agency doing it in London, there are many doing it in London.

The Taoiseach often talks of a rules-based system. Last week the judgment of 22 March came to light. It came to light that none of the rules around the sex offenders' register was applied. The Department of Justice was informed by UK authorities of a sex offender and effectively did nothing until the matter was about to come to trial. We accept there are rules but the rules are simply not being applied. The Department of Justice is the lead agency for the security of this State and for public safety but it seems unable to apply its own rules. We can talk about a rules-based system all we want. If those rules are not being applied, they are essentially irrelevant. The public at large, not just in this State but unfortunately bad actors in other states, are cottoning on to that. We have a problem.

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