Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The Senator will have plenty of time to reply. This is an open-ended debate so far. We must face reality. Ireland is the only member state of the European Union without carrier liability law. There would be no point in having this law if I were to accede to the amendment that a person not incur any liability where he or she declares an intention to claim asylum thereby rendering him or her exempt from having his or her documentation checked. Anyone could breeze onto a plane holding a card declaring an intention to claim asylum in Ireland. Let us get real here, either we have this law or we do not. We cannot have a nonsensical law which is circumvented by a verbal formula printed on a card which allows everybody at the check-in counter in any airport in the world to request to be taken to Ireland to claim asylum.