Seanad debates

Wednesday, 18 December 2002

Immigration Bill, 2002: Committee Stage.

 

If one transfers to airlines responsibilities which are properly carried out by the forces of law, the end result is the situation which will arise under this Bill. As the Minister has said, somebody at an airport check-in desk will decide whether an intending passenger is a genuine asylum seeker. The Minister may wish to have it that way but we do not. We take the view that, as the Minister is well aware, if people arrive in Ireland with a manifestly unfounded case, immigration officers are already empowered to turn them back. I see no reason to give that power to a person sitting at a check-in desk in Charleroi Airport or elsewhere.

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