Seanad debates
Tuesday, 24 June 2003
European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Report and Final Stages.
To return to the case DG v. Ireland, what is being proposed by the Minister does not provide any remedy for this person. As I argued on Committee Stage, the convention states that remedies are not discretionary, yet in the legislation before us the only monetary remedy is discretionary. That is most unsatisfactory. The young man to whom I refer eventually got his costs and €5,000 which, of course, did nothing for him. Due to the current state of affairs in respect of suitable accommodation for such people, the monetary remedy will not do any good for anyone who finds themselves in a similar position. It will not prove beneficial for judges, who – as the Minister of State knows better than I – are sometimes at their wits' end trying to find places of accommodation for difficult cases such as this.
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