Results 17,201-17,220 of 21,514 for speaker:Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I will make a number of points before we bring the first session to a close. There was very understandably significant emphasis on children and the impact on their lives. I marked off some of the points. It is estimated there are 2,000 to 6,000 children of undocumented migrants in Ireland. That is a significant number. I will bunch a number of short questions together. What was the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Would Priya's daughter like to stand up and identify herself? She is very welcome here today.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I have a sense that Priya's daughter is very proud of her mother here this morning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: She has every right to be. Would Ms McGinley or Mr. Rojas Coppari like to comment on the situation with regard to the number of children?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: On behalf of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, I thank Mr. Rojas Coppari, Priya and Ms McGinley for putting their evidence before us this morning and helping us through this process. I invite them to join us outside for a photograph to record the fact that they have been here and to enable us to create a montage with the report to the Tánaiste.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: We shall resume the meeting. The purpose of the second part of the meeting is to engage with Ms Fiona Finn, chief executive, and Ms Jennifer DeWan, campaigns and communications manager, NASC. I have been briefed that nasc is the Irish word for link. I welcome both women here this morning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The joint committee has identified immigration and the refugee crisis as one of its priority issues in its 2016 work programme. For the information of the witnesses, we are building on work that has already been addressed by this committee because we believe it is important to revisit and re-inject impetus into particular issues. We have selected a number of issues this year. I welcome...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Does Ms DeWan wish to comment at this stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I am going to open the discussion up to members. I thank Ms Finn for her comprehensive address to the committee. Our guests will see that in the first part of our proceedings, we dealt with those who are illegal migrants. Now, we are looking at the refugee crisis with a particular focus. We have agreed that each of these areas require to be addressed. Would any member like to start the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Deputy is a regular to start, so we will allow him to go first.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Deputy Wallace, would you like to continue with your line of questioning?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The format is that the Senator will ask a number of questions which will be banked.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Do Ms Finn and Ms DeWan want to respond now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I have a number of comments before we bring our engagement to a close. The NASC is based in Cork.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Does it cover issues across the jurisdiction, not just in Cork? In other words, it is not just a snapshot of the experience in Cork; there is engagement country-wide with people who come to it for support. The delegates have mentioned, as have others, the situation in Italy and Greece for those who were fortunate enough to reach those shores with the support of the Irish Naval Service and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: We will find out.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Thank you for that. I ask the witnesses to tell us what they would like to say to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she was sitting here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Is Ms DeWan referring to the humanitarian ambition programme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: She would ask, "What are the barriers to its introduction?"

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Migrant Crisis: Discussion (16 Nov 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Okay, thank you. On behalf on the committee I thank Ms Finn and Ms DeWan. They have travelled quite a distance to be here today. I wish to explain that our committees are a lot smaller than they used to be. I am not sure if the witnesses have appeared before an Oireachtas committee in the past. As I said, the committee is a lot smaller than in previous times but the greater number of...