David Norris (Independent)

The Senator picked up on the trend of the debate. I do not accuse him of anything dishonest but merely point out that he was the person who introduced this idea. I wish he were right and that it were temporary emergency legislation. It is far more radical than that, however.

There are no independent internal appeals mechanisms. There ought also to be an independent monitoring presence at points of entry. We have all agreed that this area is very sensitive. Where is the training for officials? Are there any provisions for training people to deal with this situation? There is none that I can see. There is no requirement even that people should be questioned in a language that they understand; it is as stupid as that.

The joint submission says that this Bill should be withdrawn, since it would, for the first time, criminalise Irish citizens for failing to comply with immigration requirements. I am sure the Minister has this briefing document. I was asked for copies of it by the Government side, and I happily gave it to them. That is the nonsense of this. Learned views and judgments have been given in the British courts, none of which have been taken into consideration in preparing the Bill.

I will take up a point referred to by Senator Terry. The people, if not the Government, of this country are committed to supporting the people of Tibet in their distress. This is one of the countries that will be a victim of the Government's recent fudging of this issue. These unfortunate people who are already trampled upon by the Chinese will also have to deal with this situation.

The retrospective application of the law is not in accordance with the provisions of our Constitution. I will take no further part in this disgraceful debate. I now withdraw from the House and will only return to it if, as I hope, there is a general vote against the Bill in total. I withdraw in protest and disgust.