Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I will speak to the Government amendments first and I will then deal with the points raised by Senator O'Meara. Amendment No. 11 is intended to address, in statutory form, the assertion made by opponents of the Bill that it would compromise our obligations under the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the status of refugees and its related protocol, the New York Protocol of 1967. Of course, we do not accept that the Bill compromises our obligations and I have been advised by the Attorney General that this amendment is unnecessary from a strictly legal point of view, and I agree with that. Nevertheless, the amendment states the position and what is obvious to any neutral observer is that this carrier liability legislation compromises not one jot or tittle of our obligations under the Geneva Convention and its manifestation in domestic law, the Refugee Act, 1996. While I agree the Government amendment is, in strict law, unnecessary, I am convinced the law in this instance should reflect the policy commitment of the Government and the State to our responsibilities to those in fear of persecution and in need of protection in Ireland.

Amendment No. 11 refers to specific provisions of the refugee legislation, that is, section 8, which sets out the process whereby a person arriving at a port in the State, or already within the State, may make an asylum application, section 9, which ensures asylum applicants are admitted to the State while their claims are being examined and section 24, which addresses the admission to the State of programme refugees. The amendment also refers to the general inherent discretion which every Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has to admit a person who is considered to be in need of the protection of the State.

I inform Members that the Attorney General has advised us that it is not strictly necessary to move this amendment but we believe it is essential to make clear our commitment. The adoption of this amendment represents incontrovertible evidence in statutory form that the State continues to honour and fulfil its convention obligations.

Amendment No. 21 will insert into the Refugee Act arrangements for the acceptance into the State, by agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, of persons from around the globe already identified by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as persons fleeing persecution and in need of protection.

An important concern of the international community and, in particular, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at present is to find solutions to the global refugee problem. To assist it in dealing with refugee matters, the UNHCR advocates what it calls durable solutions which are essentially made up of three pillars: voluntary repatriation of refugees to their country of origin; local integration into the country of asylum; and resettlement to a third country. For resettlement it is necessary for the UNHCR to find countries which are willing to take refugees.

Although during the period 1992-2001 the global number of refugees fell by 24% compared to the previous five years, during 2001 the size of the global refugee population was still approximately 12 million. In 2001 the UNHCR resettled almost 30,000 refugees. Some 40% of the persons of concern to the UNHCR under its mandate live in refugee camps. Many live in difficult conditions, often for considerable periods. Others cannot remain in their country of asylum because, for example, such matters as their religion or ethnic background make it difficult for them.